Betrayal
by Nigelcat1
Summary: Harry Potter has been betrayed, abused and controlled all his life but he finally finds someone to rescue him from Dumbledore and all who don't have his best interests. Bad language and horrific deaths.


BETRAYAL

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Warning: Bad language and horrific deaths

Chapter 1 – The Ride Back to Hogwarts

A very quiet Harry Potter sat on the Hogwarts Express in a compartment containing his "best friends" as well as Ron's sister Ginny, Neville Longbottom and the unusual but intriguing girl who he just met named Luna Lovegood.

Ron and Hermione had just returned from their Prefects' meeting and Draco Malfoy, who was also a new Prefect, had made his annual visit to insult and taunt the Gryffindors, but mostly Harry Potter. This year he had much to gloat and taunt about, starting with insinuating he knew all about the resurrection of the Dark Lord (which the Ministry was profusely denying) as well as the embarrassment which Potty must be feeling that the Weasel had been made Prefect and not Scarhead.

Instead of rising to the baiting like he would usually be forced to do, thanks mostly to Ron making sure a confrontation would be happening no matter how much Harry tried to control himself, Harry said nothing and just listened to all of it, if only because all of it was true.

Since Harry had been the unwilling participant in the resurrection and it really had hurt that Ron, who definitely didn't deserve it, had been made Prefect and not Harry. Neville, Seamus or even the Muggleborn Dean Thomas would have been a much more logical (and better) choice than Ron Weasley, but at least Harry knew the reason why Ron was given that honor.

Harry said and did nothing even when Ron escalated things. Finally a fight broke out between Ron and Malfoy and since Malfoy was a much better dueler (and had more training) than Ron) someone was bound to be hurt.

Harry had been hit with the spell as Ron had managed to "avoid" being hit even though he knew his moving aside the spell would hit the uninvolved Harry who wasn't even looking in Malfoy's direction and would have no chance to dodge.

Harry was hit with a very bad, almost lethal, cutting spell. It was only then that Hermione, Ginny and even Neville went on the defensive and chased away Malfoy and his goons. Luna snapped to attention and started administering some healing spells on Harry but was roughly pushed aside by Hermione because "she knew what had to be done and was apparently the only person who knew how to do it."

"Go find the Head Boy and Girl," commanded Hermione to Luna or Neville or whoever was stupid enough to step out of the compartment knowing that Malfoy and goons were probably still lying in wait for someone to leave the compartment to get help. Luna brought that to the attention of everybody in the compartment. She was merely told to "shut the bloody hell up and go find them" by Ron.

Fortunately for Harry, Hermione had been studying some healing spells and managed to administer enough aid to Harry to stabilize him until they could either leave the compartment or arrived at Hogwarts. Ron, whose fault it was that Harry was injured, merely kept shouting/ordering Neville or "Looney" to obey their Prefects and go get help.

Both Neville and Luna noticed he wasn't ordering his sister to leave the compartment. Luna looked at Neville and Neville, meeting her eyes and perhaps sensing that she was warning him of the setup, slid the compartment door open and yelled, "you're the Prefect who caused it so it's your job to do it."

Ron turned to cuss out Neville but found himself instead being quickly and expertly magically pushed out of the compartment into the hall by someone (he didn't know who) and the Neville quickly closing the door and locking it.

Neither Hermione, who was treating Harry, nor Ginny, who had "come to his side to give comfort" noticed and Neville and Luna kept it that way. Luna had quickly cast a silencing spell on the compartment so that the other girls couldn't hear Ron's curses and banging on the door. They also both noticed that he seemed to have no intention of leaving to find help so Neville closed the curtains so they wouldn't have to look at him.

Then the strange girl very nicely cast a spell knocking out both Hermione and Ginny which also rendered them totally unconscious and unable to move or hear what would be said. She then looked at Harry's wounds and started fixing the mess Hermione had made. Although Hermione had "read up on healing spells" she hadn't had the opportunity to perform any and the Great Hermione Granger, the "brightest witch of her age" had made mistakes. Luna corrected them as quickly and as gently as she could.

"You know Ron moved purposely, don't you?" Neville asked.

"Yes, I know," replied Harry, "I was facing the window and could see his every move as well as the smirk on his face when Malfoy brought it to my attention that Ron was made Prefect and not me."

"If you want to unburden yourself and tell us about your summer, we will listen" volunteered Luna for herself and Neville.

Neville was surprised that this girl who both he and Harry had just met would ask such a thing but he was truly shocked when Harry replied, "Sure, why not."

Thus Harry began telling Neville and a strange girl he had just met the story of his summer. He left nothing out. For once he even told the two how the Dursleys actually treated him. He told about the confrontation with the Dementors, the owls from the Ministry, Arthur Weasley and the orders from Dumbledore. He even told, as much as he could anyway, about his "rescue" by the Order of the Phoenix members. He had heard that Neville's parents had been members so he would probably know something about it.

He told about the isolation he had been subject to and the cavalier attitude of Hermione and Ron who simply justified their not writing their "best mate" because Dumbledore had told them not to. He then went on to talk about the sham of the trial and being returned to "where he was now staying" and all that went on there until it was time to leave to catch the train today.

So far they were not interrupted so Harry risked telling them both about exactly what had happened at the graveyard. Naturally Dumbledore had forbidden anyone from knowing the truth except for Hermione, Ron and the Weasleys but #$*#$&#^#& that old $*$ ^^ Harry had to tell someone, especially someone who just might actually care.

Neville was horrified and Luna was just…quiet but thoughtful. She thanked him for trusting him enough to unburden himself and promised that if she could help him in any way she would. Neville did also. He also told Harry that he, and even Seamus and Dean, had tried to befriend him for the past four years but Ron had warned them off, saying that Harry was very, very particular about whom he associated with."

"And let me guess," added Harry, "I bet he has been telling that to people in the other Houses, hasn't he?"

He was told yes. He then asked Neville and Luna not to say anything to anybody as "Dumbledore has his plans and everybody wimps out and obeys him without question. If you are seen trying to help me, it will only end badly, very, very badly, for you both."

There was nothing that Neville or Luna could say to that but they both thought and vowed that they would meet up with each other and try to help Harry.

Soon the announcement was made that they were reaching Hogwarts. Hermione and Ginny were left in their unconscious form and just as Neville began to help Harry out of the compartment, Harry turned to Luna and asked her to hold out her wand. She did so and then Harry pulled out a wand from a wand holster (which Neville knew for certain he hadn't possessed since he went to Hogwarts) that was strapped to his leg. Harry then asked to "keep this a secret" and then he erased the last spells on Luna's wand. He then asked her to recast the healing spells so that they would register on her wand.

Once they heard the other students leaving, they opened the door to the compartment and left with Neville holding onto Harry and escorting him off the train. Ron was nowhere in sight, so Luna sought out an upper year Prefect and told her what had happened (or at least her version) and said that Ron had gone for help but hadn't returned and that some spells had been thrown into the compartment when Neville tried to reopen the door and had hit Hermione and Ginny in the back.

Neville had then shut and locked the door and Luna continued fixing Harry up. As she was not sure what spells had hit the girls, she left them as they were as they were hoping Ron would be back soon. She was playing the "scared little girl" card very well.

They made their way to the carriages and it was then that Harry first saw the Thestrals and both Neville and Luna explained why to Harry. Once they arrived at Hogwarts, Neville and Luna helped Harry up to the Infirmary and "explained things" to Madame Pomfrey. The Medi-witch examined Harry and congratulated Luna on a job well done.

Harry had shocked the Medi-witch by admitting he was not feeling well and could he stay the night. As this was very un-Harry-like behavior, then the boy must indeed feel bad, and he had been very banged up. He then asked if Neville and Luna could stay with him and the witch said yes and she called for a house elf to bring them all dinner.

Despite his injuries, it was the best welcoming feast Harry had ever attended as he actually didn't have to attend the feast or listen and watch Ron eat and make nasty comments, be subject to Hermione's opinions and listen to whatever nonsense Dumbledore would be spouting. He had been too nervous and confused to "enjoy" his own sorting feast but now he had some real friends and potential allies.

Of course, he knew that Ron would eventually show up since no doubt Malfoy and goons had done a number on him and he was pleasantly surprised that he hadn't already been there yet, but no doubt he was reporting (or rather tattling) to Dumbledore. So Harry would enjoy the peace and new comradely while he could.

By some miracle they had been left alone but when curfew neared, Pomfrey wrote a note for Neville and Luna and had a house elf escort both students to their respective Towers.

Even Pomfrey was surprised that not only was there no sign of Ron, Hermione or Ginny but neither McGonagall nor Dumbledore had shown up if only to check on Harry. She then decided to give Harry a dreamless sleep potion so that he could be well and truly asleep when Dumbledore eventually came to interrogate the poor boy. He always did and only if Harry was well and truly unconscious (or even in a coma) would he leave the boy alone – for the moment.

Pomfrey had still not forgiven Dumbledore for last year when she had not been allowed to help Harry regarding the death of Cedric Diggory or even to let him have some dreamless sleep potion and other painkillers to take back home with him. But that was Dumbledore's usual modus operandi as he wanted the boy "toughened up" and any medication outside of that administrated initially in the Infirmary would probably do the boy more harm than good, or at least that was the diagnosis of "Healer Dumbledore."

There were many things which Pomfrey disagreed with concerning the care and treatment of Harry Potter but she, like the other staff members were under very strict orders concerning the boy and some, like her and McGonagall, were even under special oaths which they had to obey.

Once the boy was asleep, she decided to turn in herself as it had been a long day. She set the charm which would alert her if the boy stirred or if someone was entering the Infirmary. She then had her nightly cocoa, brushed her teeth and went to bed.

She would be very glad that she didn't know what was going on which was preventing the invasion of her own private kingdom, but tomorrow all hell would be breaking loose.

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 2 – Murder on the Hogwarts Express

The only thing that Harry hadn't confided to Neville and Luna was his secret meeting and the revelations. The first night that he had arrived at Grimmauld Place had been confusing, frustrating and demoralizing.

First it was his "friends" saying they didn't contact him (and had kept Hedwig a prisoner so she couldn't help Harry find out from other sources). Then it was finding out about the Order of the Phoenix and a few other things – like he wasn't allowed to know anything.

Then it was Mrs. Weasley versus Sirius. Harry would be witnessing the constant subjugation of his godfather to not only Dumbledore's orders but to obeying Molly Weasley. It was very unsettling seeing his godfather basically humbling himself to Dumbledore but to Mrs. Weasley? Apparently Sirius had lost more in Azkaban than his health and sanity – like his balls, manhood or whatever. Although he didn't meekly submit to Molly, he did eventually submit to her reign of terror in his own house!

Then he had been forced to share a room with Ron. Naturally Ron had made the room "his own" and of course he snored to high hell. At least at Hogwarts he could shut his bed curtains and he had learned to put some silencing charms on his bed to shut out the horrendously loud noise. Since he was not allowed to do magic and no one would put the charms around his bed for him, he was forced to endure Ron's racket. The Twins thought it was funny and Sirius said it couldn't be that bad but he had refused to listen to it or fix it.

He hadn't been able to sleep at all the first night and at around 4 a.m., he headed down to the kitchen to hopefully make himself some cocoa. It was then that he met Kreacher. The despicable old house elf and been waiting for him and before Harry could react, the vicious creature had grabbed him and popped him to the hall where Sirius' mother's portrait was. Apparently she wanted to talk to the half-blood bastard of a Mudblood whore.

Kreacher set up silencing and disillusionment charms so that no one would see or hear the conversation taking place. Just to be thorough, he had silenced Harry so that he would be forced to listen to his mistress.

After many insults Walburga Black got down to business. She told him many things that night and would continue to do so each and every night that Harry stayed at Grimmauld Place. At first he refused to believe what the old harridan was telling him – for about two nights. However, after witnessing what was going on at the place and receiving the usual treatment from Dumbledore, Harry started not only listening but learning.

Everything the portrait was telling him was true. After the farce of a trial everything started coming together and making total sense.

Then one night Kreacher made certain that all in the house were fast asleep and would stay that way until 7 a.m. the next morning. That was the night that Kreacher took Harry to Gringotts to the appointment which had been made for him by Walburga. He found out many, many things, all of which were disturbing, angered him greatly and some even broke his heart and started to damage his soul.

By the time he had boarded the Hogwarts Express he knew oh so much more than he ever wanted to. However, he also now had some tools and the means to help himself.

For starts, the Black Family always had a large collection of wands, mostly wands from deceased family members but also some "extras" to use for emergencies and…other things. That was how Sirius had gotten the wand he now used. Harry was shown the wands and tried each one until he found two that were compatible with his magic. Naturally they did not have the trace or any type of trace at all on them, unlike the Ministry trace and the "Dumbledore trace" which were placed on his holly and phoenix feather wand.

He also acquired the wand holster for his leg and was given a book of spells to learn and practice. That was how he knew how to remove the spells from Luna's wand which would have gotten her in trouble. He hid the other wand in a disillusioned wand holster inside an old pair of Vernon's long length socks which was mixed in with some of his more disgusting clothing.

Harry had known since his first year that Ron was always looking through his trunk. Since he wouldn't find anything of interest other than the occasional chocolate frog or loose sickle or knut, Harry didn't worry. He was saddened that his trunk was being search but since Ron was one of the few friends _he was allowed to hav_ e there was really nothing that he could do about it.

Yes, Harry had been aware about some of the things that Ron was doing. The trunk rifling, the spying, the preventing him from making friends even in his own house, making him goof off and not study or do his homework until the last minute and forcing Harry into fighting with Malfoy when Harry desperately tried to avoid it. Harry was the one to be punished and not Ron.

He knew that Hermione was doing the same thing except that she wanted him to do his homework, study and avoid getting into fights. He also knew that she still didn't want him to outdo her or even to get a better grade on a test or homework assignment as she had this unreasonable need to be the best and prove she was just as good if not superior than the other students, especially the Purebloods and for some strange reason, Harry.

At least she had stayed by his side through thick and thin last year and helped him survive. But sometimes the how and whys she stayed by him mystified him. Did she do it because he was the Boy-Who-Lived like Ron did, or because she was socially inept and just couldn't seem to make and keep friends? Did she stick by him because she was getting a reward or something else, no doubt from Dumbledore? Sometimes he wanted to know and sometimes he didn't as he feared the answer.

What was the worst thing she did was the unmerciful nagging. She wanted to know everything he was doing or thinking. It didn't matter if he wanted to keep something a secret, she wanted to know and she would not let up _until he told her every little thing_. She said she did it to "help him" but the only help or advice she would give was to "tell a teacher" like McGonagall or Dumbledore. The few times he did or tried to, he was brushed off, ignored or told that it was either his imagination or he was just being a teenager and making a mountain out of a mole hill.

It was strange that the things which were the most obvious, like his gaunt appearance, the rags he wore, his total lack of knowledge of most things all the other Muggleborns knew about the Magical World except him, the evident abuse and miserable home life he was subject to…no those things she "didn't notice" or seemed to want to know. She didn't even suggest him to tell a teacher, probably because she knew they would not be interested or care and probably already knew.

Harry realized it was going to be a very, very bad year, perhaps even worse than last year as the Ministry was conducting a slander campaign against him. Malfoy would be cockier than usual as he knew that Voldemort was back and no one would believe it so therefore Voldemort could gain power until such time as he would eventually attack and the Ministry and Magical Britain would be totally unprepared.

The fact that Ron had been made the Gryffindor fifth year Prefect and not Harry was a great insult to Harry. Naturally since Malfoy was a Prefect he could really increase the torture this year as well as deducting points and recommending that Harry be given detentions. It was truly going to be the "Year of Draco Malfoy" and Harry had a nasty feeling that he just might have to kill Draco Malfoy – after he killed Ron first.

Yes, Harry was actually considering committing murder. Poor Voldemort might feel hurt that he was no longer No. 1 on Harry's "List" as that honor was now held by Albus Dumbledore. Then there was Ron, Molly Weasley, maybe Ginny if Walburga was to be believed and even possibly the Twins. Hermione he was still in the process of deciding so he would play it by ear.

Malfoy was probably a definite but only if he could be sure not to be caught. He needed to find the proper spell or curse. Walburga had told Kreacher to select certain books for Harry to read at night while others slept and then to shrink them down so that Harry could carry them around with him in the pockets of the Invisibility Cloak. Harry never knew the cloak had pockets until Walburga told him.

He was advised to keep the cloak and the Marauders' map on his person at all times. The Goblins had removed the tracking spells off of the cloak and the map. Apparently Dumbledore had placed many spells on the cloak before returning it to Harry. There had been some strong compulsion spells on the cloak no doubt to make sure Harry used the cloak during his first year as well as in the other years so that Harry could get into mischief – or at least the mischief Dumbledore wanted him to get into.

Harry had been advised to bond with that elf Dobby or at least some other "trustworthy elf" even if he had to buy one. Kreacher would not be leaving Grimmauld Place to assist Harry unless there was an emergency and Harry would definitely need an elf to monitor him for charms, potions and curses like the ones he usually had cast on him.

Walburga had ordered Harry to have the Goblins enchant a special item, such as a ring or watch which would alert him if he was given a potion or had something cast on him. She had warned him that there was a possibility that a love potion would be started either this year but definitely by next year. There was nothing he could do to prevent it other than to realize it had been given to him and then take an antidote to negate its effects.

Harry was taken to a magical optometrist on the sly who not only gave him his first thorough eye exam, Harry now had the first correction prescription in his life, which had an added feature of being updating. Unfortunately his old, unflattering, ugly style glasses had to be used as the Goblins informed Harry that "someone" had placed a tracking charm on his glasses but at least he could see. The Goblins then added their own charm to enable Harry to resist obliviations. It had been very expensive but definitely worth it.

Kreacher had spent his time spying on all the invaders of Grimmauld Place. He had even used some special elfin magic to record some of the more shocking and secret plots so that Harry could witness and be warned about the plans and manipulations he would be subject to.

One of them had been between Ron and Molly as she coached him how to act oh so surprised, flattered and honored at being made Prefect instead of Potter and of the celebration they would have to honor Hermione and Ron. She had warned her son to keep a straight face so that he didn't smirk or laugh out loud due to the pain and humiliation Potter would be suffering. In the end she had to spell him to act surprised because she knew he wouldn't be able to behave or resist taunting the brat.

Harry had asked her why she was "helping him" when he was just "a Half-blood bastard of a Mudblood whore?" He had been shocked at her answer but after thinking about it for a while, it all made sense. Revenge was not just "a dish served cold" but sometimes the only way to obtain justice, and that was why Walburga was helping, teaching and protecting Harry Potter.

Harry knew something would be happening on the Hogwarts Express but he had been amazed at Malfoy's behavior. Granted the spoiled, pompous git had never shown any real cunning which a Slytherin should have and since he was rarely, if ever, punished for anything no matter how bad it was, he was always confident that he would get away with anything and could depend on Lucius to smooth things over and save him.

But the curse he had cast at Harry (well Ron actually) could have killed, especially if immediate medical treatment was not administered. Ron, or rather Harry, could have bled to death. That would have been murder and murder done in front of witnesses.

Then there was the fact that Ron knew that Malfoy and goons would be lying in wait for someone to go for help. He would be the logical person to seek help, being a Prefect, but instead had ordered Neville and/or Luna to go for help and not Ginny. After all, Ginny could get hurt.

Just before Harry had drifted off to sleep he wondered if there was any possibility that Ron and Draco had planned the attack. The entire school (if not Magical Britain) knew that Malfoys and Weasleys were mortal enemies, especially Ron and Draco. No one would suspect a setup between Ron and Draco, so had that been the plan?

Harry had no doubt whatsoever that Ron would do anything for money. Malfoy would do anything to please his father and now the Dark Lord. Killing Harry Potter would be a feather in anyone's cap and Harry could imagine Draco saying "And I will be rewarded beyond my wildest dreams for doing such a wonderful deed for my Lord."

What Harry didn't know as he drifted off to sleep was that Ron Weasley was dead. He had been accidently killed by Draco who, in a moment of panic had had Crabbe and Goyle throw Ron's body out of the Hogwarts Express over a ravine. Draco was conceited enough to think that he would never be caught, tried or punished for the deed. He was half correct.

There had been several witnesses, some of which had seen the actual deed taking place and others who heard and saw Draco telling his goons to throw the body out of the train. There had been two Prefects who witnessed it, one of them being Hannah Abbott, best friend of Susan Bones who was the niece of the Head of the DMLE Amelia Bones.

Draco had boldly gone back to his compartment and although shaken he would not admit it and attempted to foolishly brag about ambushing Weasley when he came storming through the train cars. Draco had cast a bludgeoning curse at the idiot and he had fully expected the git to avoid getting hit. Ron did move but not fast enough but he still might have survived if the train car hadn't shifted and the curse hit Ron directly in his torso. His body was flung hard against the wall of the aisle and his head hit a wall with such force that Draco and the goon boys could hear his skull being crushed. Between the damage to his body and his crushed skull, Ron died in seconds.

Acting like a "true Malfoy" he had told of the encounter to Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode and Blaise Zabini. They only stared at him in shock so he then began to mention that the Weasel was his "first kill" and how proud his parents would be of him. "No doubt the Dark Lord himself will consider enlisting me before I am of age."

But his fellow housemates were still silent. Even Crabbe and Goyle had enough sense to know that Draco shouldn't be telling anybody about the "incident" let alone bragging about it even if only to his fellow Slytherins. Even they had noticed that there were witnesses whereas Draco hadn't. However, they didn't bother mentioning it to him as they also knew he'd get away with it as his father would "hear about it" and fix things. As long as they were not punished, they really didn't care.

By the time the train reached Hogwarts and the students started to disembark, Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones led the two Hufflepuffs third years off the train and directly to the Three Broomsticks. They then used the floo to go to the Ministry and report the matter to Amelia Bones.

Susan didn't know if Dumbledore would try to cover up this death especially considering it was the son of two of his most faithful followers, but even if he did bring Draco up on charges, she did know that Lucius Malfoy would fight tooth and nail for his son even if it meant that some of the witnesses fell victim to a "unfortunate accident."

The other Prefect who witnessed the last part of the event as well as the other witnesses was busy either hiding or coming up with an alibi. They too knew about the power of Lucius Malfoy and even Dumbledore did let the Malfoy boy get away with too much.

Unfortunately for the witnesses and Prefect, others who had not actually seen the event or "cleanup" had heard about it and word spread very quickly throughout the train. Many conscientious people sent their owls with letters to various people telling of the event and Lee Jordan had sent his owl directly to McGonagall.

Therefore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout were waiting for the Express to pull in to apprehend Draco. Sprout had also sent for Aurors and Amelia Bones had arrived with several Aurors who she could trust and Draco Malfoy was immediately arrested getting off the train. The three professors saw to the students leaving the train as well as gathering together the remaining witnesses so that the Aurors could hold them for questioning.

At the moment Snape did not know anything about the incident and even Dumbledore would not have an inkling until Aurora Sinistra brought the Sorting Hat down to the Great Hall in place of McGonagall. She had been asked to fill in for McGonagall and the only reason she had been given was that one of her Lions had had an accident on the train, but she didn't know who or how bad the accident was.

Things happened fast after that, but the feast and the sorting went on despite the absence of three of the four Heads of House and then the Headmaster and Snape running out in the middle of the feast.

Hermione and Ginny had been found and revived by a Prefect after Luna had reported what had happened (or at least her version of it) and despite the confusion and panic, she, Harry and Neville had not been stopped or looked for and had been able to make their way to the Infirmary. After they left Harry, Luna wrote a quick letter to her father and snuck out to the owlery to mail it.

Neville found out from Dean and Seamus that there was a rumor going around that Draco had killed Ron and that it was being covered up by Dumbledore because he was afraid of the Ministry after the "incident" of last year when Diggory was killed and Potter had started lying about it.

Neville and Seamus began to "discuss the matter" and things started getting out of hand so badly that Dean had to break up a physical fight. Where Harry Potter was had not been asked by Seamus or Dean even though he was conspicuous by his absence.

An angry Neville had gone to bed but once he closed the bed curtains he wrote a long letter to his grandmother telling her about the day's events. He then summoned one of the Longbottom house elves to take the letter to his gran because he knew that the owlery would soon be in complete lockdown. Then Neville went to sleep.

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 3 – Attacks on the Innocent and Guilty

Harry was not surprised to learn that he was being blamed for everything. Apparently it didn't matter that Draco Malfoy had nearly killed him because Ron had purposely stepped aside so that Harry would be hit be a spell he wouldn't know was coming. It didn't matter that Madame Pomfrey had testified how badly wounded Harry had been. Nope, it was Harry's fault that Ron was dead.

It was also Neville Longbottom's and Luna Lovegood's fault that Ron was dead because if one or both of them had done what they had been ordered to do by Ron the Prefect, they would have been the one to be killed instead of Ron, or at the very least, seriously hurt, but at least Ron would still be alive.

Despite the various witnesses, who had been either given Veritaserum or had sworn on their life and magic regarding what had happened and even the pensive memories of the two third year Hufflepuffs, Draco Malfoy got off.

Not only did he escape punishment, he was allowed to go back to Hogwarts. Dumbledore had actually "tried to suspend him" but had been prevented by Fudge, Delores Umbridge the new Defense teacher and Ministry representative/spy and Severus Snape. Of course Dumbledore's attempt to suspend the obnoxious boy had been half-hearted and he had merely done it for appearances sake, but he could say that he "had tried" to discipline the boy.

Draco Malfoy had triumphantly returned within two days. Harry sighed as did many others as he would now be so obnoxious he definitely would have to be killed. But Harry didn't tell anybody of his plans as he was too busy trying to ignore the gloating, taunting Malfoy as well as the furies/harpies known as Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley.

They were making Neville's life a living hell in Gryffindor and had urged the Ravenclaws to viciously attack Luna worse than before. It wasn't their fault they were smart enough to still be alive, but Molly Weasley didn't see it that way.

"At least my poor Ronnie was worth something and wasn't a crazy, witless girl or a shameful, pathetic Squib" an unreasonable and half crazed Molly Weasley had shouted out after the very quick "inquiry" of Draco Malfoy. Yep, Draco merely received _an inquiry_ and not a trial like Harry Potter had been given for using magic in front of his Muggle cousin to save their lives from Dementors.

All three Malfoys and left the private chambers of the DMLE where the inquiry and not a trial had been held on orders of Fudge. As usual they had worn their arrogant air and smug smiles and had given the requisite put down to the Weasleys. There was nothing that Molly could do against the Malfoys, as Arthur and even Dumbledore had told her, but that didn't stop her from shooting off her big mouth to the press.

Unfortunately for her she had shouted it out at Augusta Longbottom, who had showed up at the Ministry thinking, like everybody else that the Malfoy heir was going to be arraigned and tried since he was caught dead to right and her presence as a member of the Wizengamot would be needed.

Molly gave a scathing interview to an eager _Daily Prophet_ reporter, who unlike Rita Skeeter, actually reported the truth. But even Rita wouldn't have had to lie or stretch the truth for sensationalism considering the things Molly Weasley was screaming out for the entire world to hear.

Augusta Longbottom was not going to take any insult to her grandson or the House of Longbottom especially by the likes of that real disgrace to Purebloods. Augusta was not a Pureblood bigot in any sense of the word but Molly Weasley was a bitch, a shrew, a big mouth bigoted, empty-headed, miserable excuse for a witch and for her to attack two other children for not dying instead of her own worthless son was just the last straw.

The fact that she was in the Ministry of Magic screaming out her "opinion" not only to a reporter but for the world to hear was unacceptable. Then it would be in print for the rest of the world to know about. Narcissa Malfoy had already stopped to actually laugh at the woman's ravings while looking directly at Augusta Longbottom. Was Narcissa agreeing with the Weasley hag's assessment or was she just taunting Augusta for her helplessness or inability to do anything about the defamation of the Longbottom heir.

Or was it, perhaps, Narcissa reminding Augusta that it had been her sister and Draco Malfoy's aunt, who had tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity. Whatever the real reason, Narcissa finally let out a small laugh and smiled nastily at Augusta before leaving with her family.

Draco was going back to Hogwarts and he would be cockier than usual and who knew what plans he had for her Neville. And the worst part of it was that Augusta knew that Dumbledore would allow it to happen.

She had never forgiven herself for allowing Frank and Alice to join Dumbledore's Order. He had forced them into hiding but wouldn't tell them why and then after the Potters were killed and there were still Death Eaters loose, he had taken off the Fidelius charm he had placed on their "safe house" thus giving those Death Eaters the opportunity to attack her son's family. Had not a faithful house elf rescued Neville when she did the poor boy would either share the fate of his parents or be dead.

Then for the next ten years, rumors had gone about that Neville was a Squib. Frank had been a late bloomer and didn't show signs of accidental magic until he was nine as, he was a sweet tempered child and he was not exposed to danger and all his basic needs were met.

Neville had been the same, but suddenly these rumors had started and her own brother Algie had made it his life work to force the magic out of Neville. Then she started to worry and found herself picking on the boy. She knew she was being unfair but hadn't been able to help herself. It had only been this past summer when a very old friend of hers had suggested she see a healer and had even introduced Augusta to one. The healer found that a few charms had been placed on Augusta to make her belittle her grandson.

Her friend had been urging her to let the boy get a wand of his own and not use his father's wand. She had had every intention of doing so but when she got home to take Neville to get his own wand, she had suddenly changed her mind and off he went to Hogwarts with Frank's wand.

Therefore, while she was at the Ministry she sought out Amelia Bones and told her about all of the strange things. Amelia checked her over and yes, she found the same charms. She sent an Unspeakable over to Longbottom Lodge to check things and he found that there were some very illegal blood charms cast in the Lodge itself to reinforce her negative feelings towards Neville.

Arrangements were made to have the Goblins come in and specially ward Longbottom Lodge as well as to check for other spells or curses on the building and then the Lodge would be rewarded. Augusta had made it very clear that Bill Weasley was not to be a member of the team or was he to even hear about it. It was to be top secret and Augusta warned the Goblins that if any of this leaked out it would be due to the Goblins and she swore to take all of the Longbottom money out of their bank.

The next thing she did, once the newspaper article came out blaring Molly Weasley's attack not on the Malfoys but Neville and the Lovegood girl, Augusta Longbottom officially declared a blood feud on House Weasley which extended to all of their allies.

She called in all favors and all Longbottom allies and then officially warned Dumbledore that if one hair on her grandson's head or that of the girl was harmed that she would hold him personally responsible and take harsh actions against him.

The infuriating thing was that despite all of her threats she knew, she just knew that Dumbledore wouldn't care and was probably only laughing at her threats much like he did to anybody who wasn't one of his witless followers. Walter and Augusta Longbottom were not followers of Dumbledore and it wasn't until Walter had been murdered that Frank had been coerced into joining the Order.

Augusta also just knew that it was probably Dumbledore who had placed those spells in Longbottom Lodge to keep Augusta in her place and to control and belittle her family. She was not staying in her home until it was Dumbledore-proofed. She also had sent one of the house elves to Hogwarts to look after Neville and to bring him directly to where she was staying at the first sign of Malfoy abusing him.

Unfortunately, she had just said Malfoy and made the mistake of not including Weasley abuse done to Neville. Ginny and even the Twins were making Neville's life a living hell, Ginny with her spiteful words and damaging gossip and the Twins with some really mean pranks. That bossy Granger girl was chastising him and as usual McGonagall did nothing except to let it happen.

But it just wasn't Neville and Luna who were being harassed and abused. Harry was being called a liar due to the Ministry slander campaign against him and the libelous articles written by all of the news media, especially the _Prophet_.

Seamus Finnegan and half of Gryffindor House were being nasty to him – as usual. Most of Hufflepuff blamed him for Cedric's death, the Ravenclaws were being their condescending, "intellectual" selves meaning they were dissecting his involvement, debating the possibilities and just being pains in the ass as usual.

The Slytherins were being Slytherins but with even more viciousness. The fact that Malfoy had really gotten away with murder only increased his prestige and recklessness. He now knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was untouchable and could say and do anything he wanted, especially to Harry Potter.

But then Malfoy had been doing just that since first year. Despite being "Dumbledore's golden boy" Dumbledore allowed Harry to be persecuted and abused with Snape and Draco leading the way. Draco had actually wondered about Potter's treatment and couldn't understand why Dumbledore allowed Potter to be constantly vilified. But then he stopped wondering as it benefitted him, increased his power and crushed Potter so Draco was content.

Life had always been good for Draco Malfoy especially at Hogwarts. Besides inadvertently getting rid of the Weasel, Draco was extremely happy because apparently the Gryffindors had totally abandoned Potter. He didn't know if it was because they "didn't believe You-Know-Who was back" or if the death of that useless excuse for a Pureblood had tipped the scale. It didn't make sense but Draco Malfoy was going to use it to his advantage.

The only problem was Potter was keeping a low profile. He wasn't showing up for meals and couldn't be found coming or going to classes. He just quickly appeared and then disappeared. He was avoiding Granger (it was about time) but rumor had it that she had been doing nothing but yelling at him for various things and was being more bossy and irritating than usual.

Potter had started sitting with Longbottom who was also keeping a low profile and so far had managed to keep out of Draco's reach. But it was just a matter of time until he cornered them and put them in their place. The Dark Lord would be so proud of him for all of the dreadful things he was going to do to Potter.

Draco had heard from his father that the Defense class was when the Ministry was going "to get Potter" as that odious toady Umbridge was in charge of it and was going to taunt the bastard into getting into trouble. But for some reason, despite her best efforts, Potter didn't rise to the bait and kept his mouth shut. Many others had, mostly the Ravenclaws and Granger, but Potter kept his mouth shut and his head down. But since Draco knew he wouldn't be able to do it for long, it would happen soon, very soon.

The Weaselette was being a real pain in the ass. She had decided to lead a new attack on a former friend, the Looney from Ravenclaw. All the Slytherins knew that Looney had been viciously attacked and abused by most of her House members if only because she was odd, politically powerless and thus basically helpless. She was so much abused that the Slytherins didn't waste their time or effort attacking her but they did laugh at her pain.

Most of the student body was on edge. It was bad enough that Umbridge was here further damaging their education and causing a lot of trouble, but it was felt that something else, something really bad was going to happen.

And it did. The serpents had arrived!

It had started in Slytherin, the very House of Snakes. Since a snake was the House symbol, there were many snakes carved into the walls and furniture, on doors, found in portraits and many other places in the House itself and the dungeon area. Many Slytherins, Draco included, wore snake theme jewelry.

Five days into the school term, Marcus Mowbray, a 7th year Slytherin known throughout the school for his cruelty and, it was rumored, sexual depravity, was found dead in his bed. The cause of his death was a bite from a very poisonous snake, one that, of course, was not indigenous to Britain.

Snape had summoned certain Aurors to the scene before he bothered to inform Dumbledore of the death. He did this because Mowbray was a recently marked Death Eater and he knew the Dark Lord would not be pleased that a new minion "with such promise" was now dead.

Snape and the Aurors had come to the conclusion that someone had used the Serpensortia spell to summon the snake that bit the boy and caused his death. A search for the snake had begun immediately. There had been no sign of the spell in the dorm room so the snake must have been summoned and then brought to the room to do the deed. Whether the murderer had banished the snake or if it still slithered around the school, was something which needed to be found out and soon.

Snape had told Dumbledore that the murder could have been due to a family vendetta as the Mowbrays were not the most wealthy or powerful of Purebloods. They were, however, very vicious and Snape had gone so far as to call them "evil" because they were all known sadists and had always practiced Muggle hunting. They were just very careful and successful at not getting caught, but if some powerful Pureblood decided they wanted a Mowbray killed, then killed he would be.

Then the next day a 7th year Ravenclaw "had an accident" when a piece of masonry fell on his head. He also had been recently marked.

Theodore Nott came down with an unexplained and very serious case of "food poisoning" and had it not been for Snape administering the use of a bezoar to the boy the "food poisoning" would have killed him.

Angela Johnston of Gryffindor House, who was now the new Quidditch Captain, had been knocked off her broom by a gust of wind in a windless sky. She survived but had to have many of her bones regrown and would miss at least two weeks of classes and Quidditch practice.

In fact, it was "recommended" by Pomfrey that the girl turn in her Quidditch Captain badge and sit out the season this year due to the seriousness of her injuries. She was rewarded with severe verbal abuse and although Pomfrey usually didn't take points or give detentions (which she was able to do), Gryffindor lost 50 points until McGonagall reinstated them.

Amelia Bones was practically living at Hogwarts due to investigating the murders and "accidents" which were happening. Much to her annoyance Dumbledore was being his usual disrupted self but now "Umbitch" as she was known at the Ministry, was putting her two knuts in and trying to control the investigation.

The only "break" that Amelia Bones got was Harry Potter finally being given a detention by Umbridge. Rumor had it that he hadn't done anything to deserve it, but he got one anyway when he entered the Defense class.

"Detention Potter, with me tonight," the bitch toad had shouted out. She expected him to at least ask why then she could smugly say, "You know exactly why you are getting this detention" and then give him another one for his cheek.

Much to her dismay, he didn't ask and had merely said yes Madam. He didn't even ask the time or where it was to be held, so she gave him another detention anyway for cheek and still didn't bother telling him the time and place. Then she could give him more detentions for not showing up or coming at the wrong time. Dear Draco Malfoy had given her the idea and she had awarded Slytherin with 50 points for his "suggestion" and help given to the Ministry.

But Potter had showed up at her office at the exact time she usually began her detentions which only angered her more but it gave her the opportunity of giving him another detention.

She then introduced him to the blood quill. The look of surprise and pain on his face when he started using it was very satisfying. She made him write the lines of "I must not tell lies" until well after curfew, reminded him of his other detentions and then told him to leave. She did not give him a note for being out after curfew, especially since she had arranged for the 7th year Slytherin Prefect to be lurking about to jump on Potter and give him a detention for being out after curfew.

That had been another suggestion by dear Draco. The sweet, noble Pureblood child had such promise and she would be rewarding him as soon as she could find a reward worthy of the boy.

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 4 – More Betrayals and Escalations

Harry had gone back to Gryffindor House with his bleeding hand. Hermione had been waiting up for him to see what time he returned, what his detention consisted of and, as she smugly asked, how many other detentions did he earn.

"What makes you think I got more detentions?"

She sighed heavily before saying, "Because you usually do as you have always made things much worse."

She then demanded to see his hand, gave a few tsks, tsks before taking charge of healing him. As usual she was talking non-stop, berating him and not letting him defend himself against her accusations like she usually did.

However, he hadn't said anything at all, something which she found disturbing. Harry never said anything anymore despite her badgering. At first she thought it was due to losing Ron, but when she really thought about it, it had begun on the Hogwarts Express.

Later she would remember that it had really begun while they were at Grimmauld Place but she hadn't noticed as there were too many people around trying to share Harry's attention, like Sirius, Remus Lupin and other Order members and there were all the chores to be done which Mrs. Weasley had assigned them. She had been busy nagging Harry and Ron to finish their summer homework as well as trying to read many of the books in the Black Family library before Mrs. Weasley found out.

It would never occur to her or the others at Grimmauld Place that they rarely gave Harry a chance to talk other than to answer the questions they asked him. Sometimes certain people, mostly Hermione and Molly Weasley, didn't give him the opportunity to answer their questions as they answered it for him.

For example, Molly would ask "Harry dear would you like some breakfast? Of course you would as you are entirely too thin. You should eat more. Why don't you eat more? Is it some sort of 'phase' you are going through? Well you just stop that nonsense immediately and have some eggs, bacon, sausage, toast and drink down this pumpkin juice immediately!"

After forcing a silent Harry to sit down while she fetched some essence of murtlap ('which she just happened to have in her room for some reason' Harry thought to himself), made him soak his hand in it. She then informed him that it was time for them to have a long overdue talk.

It was a one-sided talk with Hermione doing 99.8% of the talking, question asking and answering and then informing him of what he was going to do. He didn't say anything but just sat in the chair being treated and receiving his orders. He was then allowed to go to bed.

Hermione felt much better since they had their little talk. She knew he felt guilty over Ron's death as if he had talked back to Malfoy like he usually did instead of just sitting there like a lump while looking out the window, well none of it would have happened. Harry wouldn't have been hit with that almost lethal spell which poor Ron had just managed to avoid and Ron wouldn't have had to go looking for help only to be ambushed by Malfoy who had "accidentally" killed Ron.

Dumbledore had made an announcement to the entire school that it had been merely an "unfortunate accident" and used it as a lesson to be learned about fighting in school. He had also managed to infer that it had been avoidable if certain people had only acted correctly. In other words he blamed Harry, Neville and Luna.

She hadn't mentioned that part as _she knew_ Harry felt guilty and had been shamed by the Headmaster's words and because Harry already knew it. She didn't want to cause him more pain and shame than he already felt.

She had gone on to say that the entire school was noticing that Harry was eating few meals in the Great Hall whereas she knew he was eating in the kitchen. _She ordered him to stop_ as he was inconveniencing the house elves and disrupting their work. It also showed the entire school that he was being a coward by refusing to face his demons or, in this case, Draco Malfoy.

"You are going to have to face him eventually and the sooner you do it the better. Considering Ron was your best friend in the world you owe it to him at least to stand up to Malfoy and show the school that you are a Gryffindor."

"That is the real reason everybody in the House is angry with you, you know," she added. She hesitated a moment before continuing because she was trying to "help" Harry by telling the "real truth" without hurting his feelings or making his sense of shame worse.

"There are many in Gryffindor who think that you are responsible for Ron's death and others who believe you should be doing something – anything – so that he did not die in vain."

Harry knew Hermione was an insensitive, naïve bitch but she was outdoing herself at the moment. She didn't explain the reasons why people were blaming him for Ron's death – except for maybe the Weasleys and mostly Ginny's smear campaign against him. She had been a witness as to how and why HE HAD BEEN NEARLY KILLED and Ron's part in it, but apparently it had slipped her photographic memory.

And just exactly what was it that EVERYBODY expected him to do about it and, most importantly, WHY?

She then went on (and on) to say that Dumbledore (who hadn't spoken to him since Grimmauld Place) was very disappointed in him as was their Head of House. And the poor Weasleys! He owed them so very much for taking him into their hearts, opening their home to him, worrying about him, taking care of him, treating him like he was a member of their family and here he was avoiding them and going so far as to sit with Neville – whose fault it also was that Ron was dead.

That was the other reason why the Gryffindors were furious at him. For some unfathomable reason, Augusta Longbottom had declared some archaic, ridiculous feud with the Weasleys merely due to Molly giving her opinion to a reporter. House Longbottom had many of these "allies" - another thing Hermione thought was ridiculous and said so during the rant - and the Weasleys only had Dumbledore and a few of the Order members – such as Harry's own godfather – to protect them.

"Try as he might, Professor Dumbledore can't do anything against this vicious act which Neville's grandmother started. He was even forced to forbid the Twins from pranking Neville because _Augusta might misunderstand a harmless prank or two – as usual – and unjustly attack the poor Weasleys even more_."

Harry still said nothing but he did stare at Hermione a bit harder. But she didn't notice.

"Therefore," she ordered pompously, "there are two things you are going to do tomorrow. First, you are going to take all your meals in the Great Hall and face Malfoy."

"Second, and most important, you are going to stop associating with Neville. The Headmaster believes the only way to correct the injustice being done to the Weasleys is to completely ostracize Neville and it is the consensus of the entire House that NOBODY has anything to do with him."

"Much like me last year," Harry said aloud only to have Hermione ignore it.

"It is a total disgrace that you are being seen associating with Neville when he has been declared a persona non grata – do you know what that means?" the girl asked.

She was going to answer the question for him - like she always did - as she knew that Harry didn't know what it meant but then Harry manage to give out an answer, "An unwelcome person or an outcast. In government circles it is a serious form of censure which one country can apply to foreign diplomats since diplomatic immunity prevents normal prosecution. You know a lot like some of the things which happened to me last year…and this year."

She was shocked to find that Harry not only knew the first meaning of the term as well as knowing about it being a diplomatic tool used against diplomats. The only way to save face was for her to reply, "Close enough."

"Now once you are seen to be publically ignoring Neville and thus giving your support to the Weasleys, Dumbledore can arrange for him to be cast out of Gryffindor House. He will be given a private room and we true Gryffindors will not have to put up with him. I know you don't understand the political implications but it will circumvent Mrs. Longbottom's vicious and unfair campaign against the Weasleys and no one can be accused of 'harming him' if he isn't living here."

"Except the Slytherins" Harry added.

"Tsk. The Slytherins have always treated Neville the same way and nothing will change except maybe Neville being cowed enough to beg his grandmother to lift the blood feud and stop all of this nonsense."

Unknown to Hermione, thanks to Walburga Harry now knew the true political implications and exactly what Dumbledore was doing on behalf of his most faithful minions. It was totally unfair to Neville and would not only harm the boy both emotionally and mentally, it would expose him to public ridicule and only serve to embolden Malfoy in hurting the boy more as it would be seen that despite his blood, heritage and family political power, "open season" had been declared on Neville and he, the last heir of a powerful, ancient and noble house would be seen as nothing more than a laughing stock and even the lowest Muggleborn could insult, abuse and harm him.

Harry was desperately trying to control his temper. Although Hermione was only the messenger of Dumbledore, she sat there boldly and arrogantly giving Harry his orders and expecting him to obey - without question – as usual.

Did she really know all of the true implications of what was being done to Neville? Or what he was being ordered to do by Dumbledore via her? He thought not as a mere two months ago he didn't know and would have only blindly obeyed even though he wouldn't have wanted to hurt Neville. She had not questioned the Great Albus Dumbledore who did everything for the Greater Good she just relayed the message/orders and expected Harry to obey.

She definitely didn't know that she was about to become second on "Harry's list" right after he took care of Umbridge. The only thing which saved her from that fate was her handing him a letter from Sirius before she sent Harry off to bed. No doubt he needed his sleep as he had a lot of groveling and betraying to start doing the next day.

Sirius had sent the letter to her to give to Harry as it was too dangerous for any letter to be sent directly to Harry due to Umbridge being at Hogwarts. Hermione's parting comment had been for Harry to read the letter tonight in private. She then went up to her dorm.

Harry went to his dorm, got ready for bed, cast privacy spells around his bed (after checking to see if his bed had been spelled by someone else) and then opened and read the letter from his "beloved godfather." That saved Hermione as she now went down on the list.

"Kreacher" called out Harry. The elf could only be called by Harry if it was an emergency and this letter constituted an emergency. The grumpy elf appeared and Harry handed him the letter with instructions to take it to his mistress so that she could read it for herself and to advise Harry what he should do next concerning it.

The elf disappeared only to reappear about 20 minutes later with Walburga's "advice" and "permission" but, as always, the final decision belonged to Harry.

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 5 – Blitzkrieg

The letter Sirius had sent determined Harry's course of action for the rest of the boy's life. Sirius had not only sealed his own fate but that of many others. Umbridge could wait as Harry had to act fast to prevent disaster and Dumbledore from getting his way and "winning" like he had always done to the doom and detriment of so many others.

The first thing Harry did was to tell Kreacher his decision, to relay it to Walburga and that "Operation Overthrow" would start as soon as possible. Harry then called for Dobby and gave him instructions to carry out immediately. Harry then woke up Neville, briefed him about the events of the night and told him to "run for your life" until he heard from Harry.

Harry then cast the silencing charm so that Neville could quickly pack his belongings and by the time he was finished Dobby had returned. He then popped Neville out of Hogwarts first while Harry made his way down to the Chamber of Secrets.

Having reached the Chamber, Harry then called Dobby. Dobby assisted him in shrinking the great snake and putting it into a special container. Then Dobby popped Harry out of Hogwarts and to Gringotts. There was much to be done and very little time to do it all.

Dobby was then sent off to complete a very special mission while the Goblins prepared to begin removing the remainder of the spells, curses and charms which Dumbledore had placed on Harry. It had only taken Dobby 15 minutes to sneak into the Headmaster's office, stun the great Phoenix, freeze all of the portraits in the office and then throw all of the trinkets Dumbledore used to monitor, track and enslave Harry Potter into a bottomless bag. Dobby then took the Phoenix into the Chamber of Secrets so that Dumbledore couldn't find the bird and since the bird was stunned he couldn't answer Dumbledore's call.

Dobby then left the Chamber and called out for Kreacher who picked up the bag to hide in the secret room at Grimmauld Place which Sirius didn't know existed. He then went back to Harry at Gringotts reported the success of his mission and the removals began. It took the remainder of the night and part of the next morning before Harry could be potioned and then could finally sleep. He was allowed to sleep for only 8 hours as there was still much to be done.

Once he was examined and proved to be in good health the first thing he did was to utter the words, "I no longer and will never again consider 4 Privet Drive my home" which caused the wards around the Dursley home to collapse. Whether the Death Eaters would know immediately or at all that the wards collapsed he didn't know nor did he care as that was now the Dursleys' problem.

Then Harry had a decent meal to fortify him for the one maybe two ceremonies he would be undergoing. Fed, rested and as relaxed as he could be under the circumstances, Harry Potter was ceremoniously dressed and taken down to the heritage room of Gringotts. He then claimed the Potter Lordship, tried on the ring, was still alive and thus accepted as the Lord Potter.

Charlus Potter had basically disinherited his only son due to his behavior as well as his slavish devotion to Dumbledore. Only an heir of true and _**direct**_ Potter blood could now claim the estate and Lordship but only if they were free of all charms, spells, curses, hexes, potions and oaths – especially if any of them were related in any way to Albus Dumbledore.

Now that he had been accepted as the Lord of an Ancient and Noble House, it would make things easier to be accepted by another Ancient and Noble House, even one like the House of Black who had very strict requirements and tests to pass.

That was why Sirius had never bothered to take the Lordship ring. Everyone thought that he was the Lord Black and had access to most of the vaults, titles, property and privileges. He could reside in any Black property and withdraw money from his private vault and that was all he cared about. He only came back to Grimmauld Place, his hated family home because Dumbledore told him it would be an excellent choice as Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.

He could also have access to Harry if he allowed Dumbledore to cast the Fidelius on the house so that Harry would be safe. As he always had, he obeyed Dumbledore and he was now financing the Order of the Phoenix. Until he took the Lordship ring he could only withdraw a limited amount of money per month but he didn't want to claim the title as he truly hated his family and all it stood for.

He told Dumbledore that he couldn't claim the Lordship yet because he still had not recovered his health enough to attempt the ceremony of the Lordship. If he wasn't in optimal condition, it could kill him. Besides, he wanted more access to Harry than he knew Dumbledore would give him and wanted to use the family fortune as a bargaining chip as it was the only one he had.

So far Dumbledore had acted just like Sirius thought he would. He made excuses for not bringing Harry to Grimmauld Place sooner, such as "the boy is still recharging the wards" and other such nonsense. The only reason he arrived as soon as he did was because of the Dementors and the trial. At least Sirius had a few weeks' access to Harry and the only price he had to pay (besides money) was putting up with Molly Weasley and the Order members he hated such as Snape.

Sirius knew that Dumbledore was in charge not him, but that was always the way of things. He also knew that he had been outmaneuvered by the old bastard and was basically trapped at Grimmauld Place. If he didn't obey Dumbledore's orders there was always the other unspoken threat that since Dumbledore was the secret keeper, a mysterious note with the address written on it and Aurors would be storming the place and arresting a very dangerous criminal.

So Sirius stayed in his hated home, drank a lot, pranked Order members, took care of Buckbeak and turned into what he had heard Harry saying under his breath "a ball-less wonder." Once upon a time hearing such a thing being said about him would have caused the person saying it a lot of pain for insulting Sirius Black. Unfortunately now, Sirius had to agree that yes, he was not what he once was and never would be again.

He had tried to form a bond with Harry by telling him all about James, the Marauders, the wonderful pranks they did and their sexual conquests. He wanted to teach Harry how to prank, but it seemed the kid didn't have the knowledge, talent or desire for pranking. Sirius would someday remedy that, hopefully before Harry left Hogwarts.

There were just so many things he wanted Harry to know. Harry looked like James so much but unfortunately was merely a shadow of his beloved friend, cousin and, as rumor had it…lover. Sirius swore to "fix Harry" and _mold him into something that James would be proud of_ but to do that he needed access and time.

All he had managed to do in the three weeks he had to "share Harry" with others was to tell him just a little about James, the pranks and some of the sex. He didn't have time to ask Harry about his sexual progress yet and hoped to "teach him properly" when he next saw him during the Christmas break. Dumbledore had promised Harry could come for Christmas.

But then Ron Weasley, Harry's best mate, had been killed by Draco Malfoy and, according to everybody, it had been Harry's fault. Of course Sirius only knew what he had been told regarding the death and that had been done by the Weasleys and Dumbledore. Naturally the "truth" of the matter was totally ignored as Dumbledore wanted to use the tragedy to his advantage.

It had been noticed by Dumbledore that Harry had changed since the end of the last school term. Granted it was only logical that the boy would change in some way considering all that he had been through. He would feel over-whelming guilt (okay a guilt charm cast by Dumbledore would see to that), be frightened by what he had witnessed and been a part of, and would be hurt and sadden by the slander being said about him.

The Dementors and the farce of a trial had also been traumatizing and a lesser person, especially a mere child, would have cracked under the strain. But it would only serve to toughen Harry up and prepare him for martyrdom.

But the boy was too quiet. He was too listless and didn't seem to care anymore especially since the trial. He associated with his friends but not the same as before. He actually willingly finished his summer homework and was even seen reading into his fifth year books. Granger had been delighted but Ron had been pissed.

Dumbledore decided that the "temper" was missing probably due to the trial and exposure to Sirius Black. He was probably very happy to be spending time with his godfather even though the Weasleys did their best to limit that time. Once the boy returned to school and became subject to this year's abuse, he would soon settle back into the path and behavior Dumbledore wanted him to have.

Somehow that stupid Ron Weasley managed to get himself killed and by Draco Malfoy of all people. Unfortunately Ron had avoided the curse and Potter had been hit with it and had it not been for the quick thinking Granger, Potter might have died. But Ron had died and although Dumbledore had used the boy for his own purposes in helping to control Potter, Ron Weasley was a fool, too greedy, much too jealous and he was almost relieved that he was now out of the picture. Ginny Weasley would now become a member of the "Golden Trio" in place of her brother and her influence (sexual) would help to control Potter much better than Ron Weasley.

Of course, Molly had to open her big mouth at the wrong time and gave an interview to the press which was printed before Dumbledore knew about it and correct it. Augusta Longbottom had reacted harshly but not surprisingly for a proud Pureblood.

At least it gave Dumbledore a chance to settle an old score with the formidable witch and prevent Neville from taking Ron's place. Neville was not controllable by Dumbledore and might tell Potter things no one else had and that couldn't be allowed to happen.

For some reason Potter wasn't mourning as he ought. He wasn't acting like a Gryffindor and without Ron to egg him on and keep him getting into trouble Potter was keeping his head down. That was another thing which had to be stopped.

For some reasons there had been a few murders and "accidents" which had been unable to be kept a secret. Snape had been firmly reprimanded but had explained that if he didn't want to be killed by the Dark Lord for not keeping him up-to-date with the on-goings at the school he had to report the death of two new Death Eaters.

Dealing with these unplanned for things had prevented Dumbledore from concentrating on Harry. He had been hiding and getting closer with Longbottom, hadn't done or said anything about avenging Ron and was avoiding Umbridge and trouble. Therefore, Granger had been given her orders to give to Harry and Sirius had been maneuvered into writing a very insulting letter to Harry, which Granger was to personally deliver to the boy.

A little "compulsion" given to the hotheaded Marauder as well as the version of the death which Dumbledore wanted Sirius to know, resulted in the letter that would doom so many of them. Dumbledore had read the letter before he gave it to Granger to pass along and it had been so very bad. It was enough to ruin the budding relationship between godfather and godson.

Sirius had been told that Harry had been too cowardly to fight back with Malfoy and he always had been. He had gone beyond common decency with his insulting of James, Sirius, the Weasleys, his friend Hermione and poor innocent little Ginny.

Ron had righteously stepped in since Harry was being a pussy, a duel was started and Ron had logically avoided being hit but Harry, who had been hiding behind Ron "for protection" and was doing nothing to fight back and/or protect the girls in the compartment and been hit with the spell and hurt. It served him right for his cowardliness.

Once Ron, Hermione and Ginny had managed to drive Malfoy and his goons out of the compartment, Hermione started to give aid to Harry but it was so serious she was afraid she didn't know enough to save Harry.

Longbottom and some worthless Ravenclaw lunatic were cowering in the compartment and refused to go with Ron who was going for help therefore his back was not covered and he bravely went off to his unknowing doom in order to save his friend's life.

Harry wasn't avenging Ron and was actually hiding out much to the shock, horror and disgust of the Gryffindors and, in fact, the entire school. A few other things had been told to Sirius, none of it true, but since several people had repeated it _**therefore it had to be the truth**_.

Dumbledore had "gently suggested" that a letter from Sirius urging Harry to act like a Gryffindor might be the thing to get the boy back on "proper path" and he offered his help in composing it. The "help" was the compulsion charm as Dumbledore knew that the boy would be terrified that Sirius would hate him and want nothing to do with him unless he did the "right thing."

Sirius did indeed "tear Harry a new one" in fact he did enough tearing for several new ones. He stressed how disappointed, shamed and even horrified James would be due to Harry's cowardly behavior. Sirius praised James to the hilt making Lancelot, Galahad, El Cid, the Duke of Wellington and even Jesus Christ seem like cowering pussies compared to James Charlus Potter.

So many bad, hurtful and unreasonable things were written in that letter that Lancelot, Galahad, El Cid, the Duke of Wellington, Jesus Christ and even Mother Theresa would have been obliged to challenge Sirius Black to an honor duel.

Dumbledore was in his glee as this dreadful letter would scare and demoralize Harry so much that, that…well that he'd probably have to cast some strong anti-suicide spells on the kid so that he wouldn't be jumping off the Astronomy Tower.

It had the opposite effect on the new, enlightened Harry Potter as now the boy declared war on everybody in the Order and most of the school, starting with Dumbledore and Sirius. Those two individuals would be the ones who would be scared and demoralized not Harry, but they wouldn't know anything about it for another day.

Then all hell would and did break loose.

Hermione was incensed that _**despite her very clear, direct orders**_ Harry Potter did not show up for breakfast. But then neither did Neville nor, not that anybody noticed, did Luna Lovegood. No matter, she would just inform him again and have the Twins with her so that Harry would finally get the idea and OBEY.

There was no sign of Harry for the entire day and then the next day. However, two days later Harry did return but only for an alibi. He hadn't shown up for breakfast but he did show up for the first class of the day, Charms with the Ravenclaws. He sat with Neville during class and both boys were the first ones out of the class so that Hermione, who always sat in the front of the class, couldn't get out fast enough to catch them.

She had screamed out "Harry James Potter don't you dare go anywhere as .BE. .ME." For some reason, Harry and Neville had kept on going to their next class, one which they didn't share with Hermione.

It had been when he, Neville and others were attending Divination that screams could be heard coming from outside. Always nosy, Lavender Brown popped up and ran to the window while Trelawney started babbling about "tragedy, death and destruction" and for once she was correct. For there had been another murder, a very public, horrible murder one which few people would ever forget.

Delores Umbridge had been sitting in on Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class with the 4th year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. She had even brought a chair with her as she had no intention of standing around looking at disgusting creatures such as the ones Hagrid was currently showing the class as well as the disgusting Hagrid himself.

She was sitting at the back of the open-air class in a chair, oblivious to her surroundings and concentrating completely on how badly she would be rating the odious half-breed she never heard the Acromantula creeping up on her until the spider, who was about the size of a sheep, pounced on her and took a big chunk out of her neck. She screamed horribly until the spider clamped down on her head and began munching away.

The class was frozen for a few moments before they too started screaming and running for their lives. Hagrid, who wasn't carrying his umbrella which contained the pieces of his broken wand, at first tried ordering the spider off the toad woman, even though it was evident it was too late as even the most determined and obstinate bureaucrat can't function without a head. He then grabbed an ax which he kept handy and attacked and killed the spider by whacking off its head.

But now there were more screams coming and he ran to the defense of his retreating students. There were two more Acromantulas loose and attacking the group of fleeing students. One, about the size of a lamb, was ripping off the arm of a Hufflepuff.

Not that anyone would remember but this particular Hufflepuff had being caught several times last year sending stinging hexes, jinxes, and even the occasional harmful curse at the back of one Harry James Potter. The always grinning Hufflepuff _**had been caught, but never punished**_ because he was only giving Potter what he deserved for being a lying, cheating Half-blood, son of a Mudblood whore that he was and for trying to rob the REAL Hufflepuff Champion of his rightful glory. He was also very mean to Neville Longbottom who Sprout had assigned to help the ungrateful boy with Herbology.

The other spider had attacked Ginny Weasley and was currently ripping out bits and pieces of her stomach and torso as the girl screamed out her death throes. Two Hufflepuffs were desperately throwing curses at their housemate's spider while only Colin Creevey was attempting to stop the spider from killing Ginny. The rest of the students, especially the Gryffindors were still screaming and running for their lives.

It was only when Hagrid finally managed to decapitate both spiders that the Hufflepuffs tried to administer first aide to their year mate and Hagrid comforted Colin. Ginny was beyond help and Professor Sprout had only just managed to come to the aid of the class with two of her sixth year students assisting her. The Hufflepuff was placed in stasis but it had been too late to save his life.

There was no explanation for the deaths and both Harry and Neville had an alibi. They were also totally ignored for the rest of the day as the school was filled with Aurors investigating, reporters trying to get stories and hysterical parents descending on the school and in Molly's case, howling, raving and vowing revenge. Revenge on anybody even though there was no proof or any clues.

Fortunately for most people's sake, Molly was carried off to St. Mungo's and heavily sedated for several days. It was feared that losing two children in less than a month would push the uptight witch over the edge. It did but it would be another week before she would be discharged and begin making wild accusations and baseless threats which served only to get her put back in a "special ward" so that she couldn't carry out those threats.

Poor Hermione had been so upset over Ginny's death and Mrs. Weasley's hospitalization that she didn't have the time or energy to "talk with" Harry. Besides she hadn't finished writing a difficult Charms assignment and there was nothing like researching and doing homework to take one's mind off one's trouble.

A panic-stricken Fudge had descended on Hogwarts and was almost going insane due to the deaths of the students but also his Undersecretary. The Aurors came up empty just like they did in the other deaths. At the "suggestion" of Lucius Malfoy, both Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom were dragged in Dumbledore's office and only the presence of Amelia Bones prevented the boys from being administered Veritaserum.

Their wands were checked and found to have only recently cast the normal spells necessary for their classes and then both boys demanded and did swear on their life and magic that they did not kill Umbridge, Ginny or the Hufflepuff. Neville was totally innocent whereas Harry was "mostly innocent" as he didn't kill them, hadn't asked someone else to kill them or paid to have someone kill. The oath was carefully worded and totally acceptable even by Fudge and an annoyed Lucius Malfoy.

Harry didn't order the killings nor did he know who would be killed, but he was told not to do anything at the moment as "things would be taken care of" as Kreacher told him. On Walburga's orders, Kreacher had arranged and paid for the Acromantula attack on the three victims. As far as Harry knew things would be done and that could mean anything from a mere roughing up and injury, having incriminating evidence planted on them, blackmail, or merely being kidnapped and imprisoned or flashed over to Timbuktu and left stranded without a wand.

Harry had not also worn his hidden wand just in case a body search was made by the Aurors.

Nope as far as anybody knew both Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom were completely innocent in the deaths, although Neville was demanding to know who had accused him and Harry as if it was a Weasley, then his grandmother would be filing charges.

Fudge refused to tell him and Dumbledore tried to shame him for believing such a thing. Lucius had just stood there wearing his usual arrogance although he did smirk widely when it would do the most damage and cause the most insult.

Lucius also kept glancing at Harry with a knowing look in his eye and a possible promise of things to come. Harry simply glanced "innocently" back at the wizard and gave back a look of his own promise, which Lucius wouldn't lower himself to recognize or acknowledge. But he would be finding out to his absolute horror that Harry Potter kept his promises.

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 6 – Lord Black Strikes

Harry, Neville and Luna were still being insulted and/or abused. Neville had to loan out the Longbottom house elf to watch Luna's back as the attacks on her had increased and were much meaner than all of her possessions being stolen or her homework assignments destroyed.

The Gryffindors were not harming Neville as even they were not that stupid (or were not since Ron died), but arrangements had been made for certain Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws to make his life miserable and galleons had exchanged hands. Dumbledore himself had authorized the payments as he still wanted the Longbottoms humbled and hopefully the heir to become his pawn.

Hermione had finished her homework assignments and recovered from her grief enough to seek out Harry and Neville in the Library where they were in the throes of attempting to finish their assignment.

"Harry, I want to talk to you. ALONE! NOW!" she commanded.

"Well I'm busy and I don't want to talk to you."

Insulted, Hermione retorted, "Well you don't have a choice in the matter. Come with me so we can talk."

The head of every student currently in the Library turned to watch the scene play out. Hermione was actually talking loud enough in her beloved library for even Madame Pince to clearly hear her at the front desk. The very air promised that a fight of epic proportions could possibly break out.

It had not gone unnoticed by the entire school that the friendship of Granger and Potter was broken, possibly beyond repair, and that Potter, despite direct orders from the Powers that Be (whoever those Powers actually were) had refused to bend to the will of House Gryffindor and to join in the ostracizing of Neville Longbottom.

With the exception of Hermione's demanding voice, you could hear the proverbial pin drop. Madame Pince slowly crept near the library table seemingly ready to pounce if voices were raised any higher but really to witness the event so that she could later tell her colleagues all of the juicy details.

"NO!"

"Harry James Potter," began Hermione through gritted teeth and in her most threatening manner, " . . .NOW!"

Ears perked up significantly.

Finally Harry stood up and looking directly into Hermione's eyes asked, "Have you sided with the Weasleys?"

"What? What do you mean?" she snapped.

"Have you sided with House Weasley?" he asked again.

Most people in the Library knew what he was asking and wondered if the Know-It-All realized the significance of the question.

Apparently she did not because she replied, "I am a friend of the Weasley Family and ALWAYS WILL BE AS ALL TRUE GRYFFINDORS ARE, AND…"

"Well House Potter has been an ally with House Longbottom for centuries and ALWAYS WILL BE SO YOU AND I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY, NOR WILL ANYTHING BE SAID BETWEEN US FURTHER."

He then looked at her reveling in the shocked expression on her face or at least he did until Hermione Granger did a very stupid thing. She slapped his smug face very hard and then attempted to vent her spleen on Harry. But before she could begin, he slapped her back, harder than she had slapped him.

Ravenclaw Su Li wondered where Colin Creevey the "camera boy" was when you really needed him. The expression on Granger's face was priceless. It Creevey was here and took a picture he could make a small fortune selling the picture to probably the entire school, including the faculty. The _Daily Prophet_ would probably pay him enough to finance his school fees for a year.

Tension filled the air waiting for the explosion which had to come…but then Draco Malfoy showed up and ruined it all. "That will be 50 points from Gryffindor and a week's detention with Professor Snape for attacking a student Potter," he shouted, in the Library, for all to hear."

"She hit me first."

"I didn't see it," lied Draco who had been sitting at a back table, "But I did see you striking a girl."

Harry laughed – not loudly – but laugh he did. This served only to infuriate Hermione and amuse Draco. It was a sweet, tinkling laugh which Su Li and the other girls present found charming and many would remember that sweet laugh with fondness for many years to come. Or at least those who survived the upcoming holocaust would.

Still laughing Harry began packing up his books as did Neville. They then started leaving the Library publically turning their backs on Draco, but fully aware they might be getting cursed so subtly casting a silent shield charm on themselves.

"And just where do you think you are going Potty?" asked Draco.

"That's none of your business – ferret."

"Well then that will be another 50 points from Gryffindor for disrespecting a Prefect."

Harry said nothing and just continued leaving while laughing.

"That will be yet another 50 points from Gryffindor for laughing in the Library," shouted out Hermione who had just remember that she too was a Prefect and could take points. Granted, she took the points from her own House, but Harry had insulted her and she needed to teach him a lesson AND SHE WOULD – especially as she started to chase after him to .TALK. He wasn't getting away from her even if Gryffindor lost every house point they had. They would only blame Harry and probably Neville and not her so she really didn't care at this point.

But Draco Malfoy did care as he was not only being ignored but laughed at. Well Potter would soon learn his lesson as Draco would now destroy him – and Gryffindor's chance at winning the House Cup.

"POTTER – GET YOUR FILTHY, DISEASED WORTHLESS HALF-BLOOD SON OF A MUDBLOOD WHORE ASS BACK HERE AS YOUR BETTER ISN'T FINISHED TALKING TO YOU."

That finally stopped Potter in his tracks as a grinning Draco knew it would. He prepared to curse the hell out of Potter when he turned to face him and feebly attempted to defend his filthy mother's "honor" but it didn't go as he planned.

Before Harry could turn around, and turn around he slowly did, both wands of Draco and, for good measure, Hermione's had flown out of their hands into the waiting hand of Neville Longbottom. Even Madame Pince gasped aloud.

Finally Harry completed his turn and stared directly at Draco asking, "Oh but you are so wrong Draco, so very wrong. You don't know yet how very wrong and very stupid you are. Tell me, in front of all these good people, what was your purpose in shouting out, very loudly, in the Library, that very nasty slander?"

Even though disarmed – by a Squib, no less – Draco hadn't the sense to be frightened at the tone of Harry's voice because he KNEW he would get away with doing anything he wanted. He had gotten away with murder just last month and when the Dark Lord took over, Draco would be at his right hand side along with his father, mother and crazy aunt.

So Draco very boldly, and loudly, yelled out "Putting you in the place where you truly belong – in the dirt, dust and filth, groveling at the feet of a Malfoy."

The others in the room all inhaled a breath and held it, even Madame Pince, as that was an insult not to be borne. Potter finally had to "confront" Malfoy now unless he really had "lost them" as Ginny Weasley had been telling practically everyone in the school. Of course, Malfoy would get away with saying it as everyone knew, especially after what happened on September 1st, but there hadn't been a good Potter melt down in ages and…well people missed seeing one.

"Oh Drakie-poo, my little dumb bunny ferret face you are soooo going to regret saying that." He didn't give Draco a chance to respond as he and Neville had by then reached the Library door, left the room, slammed the doors shut and locked them. Harry used parsel tongue so the doors would have to be broken down and removed to free the occupants.

Once they were free, the story spread like a lightning bolt. A search was made for Harry, although they would settle for finding Neville, but neither boy was found. Neither was Luna Lovegood but then no one ever missed her.

Snape took the opportunity to remove 100 points from Gryffindor for Potter's incredible arrogance and for skipping detention. Gryffindor's points were in the negative thanks to this incident and had Ron been alive he would have been demanding a lynching, crucifixion or at the very least a full scale riot.

The traitorous Gryffindors were not found. They had to be somewhere in the school as their trunks were still in their dorm room and McGonagall was offering a huge reward of house points to any Gryffindor (repeat any _Gryffindor_ ) who found one or both cowardly lions.

But they were gone, gone for good as only their trunks remained in the dorm.

A day passed and the Library incident was still the talk of the school. Malfoy was bragging what he was going to do to Potter when he was found. Most of it was enough to turn one's stomach and it only got worse as people kept coming up with new and more disgusting suggestions. Pansy had started to compile a list for Draco to choose from.

That night, Malfoy was sitting in Slytherin House holding court when suddenly he felt a stabbing pain throughout his entire body. Due to the murders, Snape was fetched immediately. He could find nothing physically wrong with Draco so he flooed him to St. Mungo's for expert testing and to notify Lucius that Draco was sick. Narcissa had gone out earlier in the day and Lucius had no idea where she was but no doubt she would be home soon and could fly to the bedside of their only son.

St. Mungo's couldn't find a thing wrong with him and suggested that his sudden pain was due to all of the stress he had undergone in the past few days concerning the "Lying, cheating Half-blood bastard son of a Mudblood whore had been putting poor Draco through."

He was released from the hospital and taken back to school with orders to be put on a regimen of calming draughts and to realize that "Potter would shortly be getting what he truly deserved" and Draco would see him crushed and ruin and hopefully dead after a lot of slow, painful torture. And this was said by some of the "good guys" at St. Mungo's.

Draco had arrived back at school too late to get sympathy or do anything but go to sleep. He didn't know it yet but tomorrow would be the most important (and horrific) day of his entire life.

Draco nearly overslept due to the calming draughts he had taken so late last night. He had just enough time to wash, dress and arrive in the Great Hall before breakfast ended and still tell at least some of his adventures to his faithful followers.

When he entered the Great Hall the loud buzzing of voices stopped and all stared at him. Ah the joys of fan clubs and having unlimited power and prestige. He strutted over to the Slytherin table, sat down and quickly started loading his plate with food. It did seem strange that no one had attempted to talk to him and he was about to speak when Snape reached the table.

The look in his Head of House's eyes scared the boy. Something bad had apparently happened and he was being taken away to be told.

But then the loud voice of one of the irritating Weasley Twins called out "Read the paper Cocksucker." Then laughter broke out even at the Slytherin table.

Draco shouted out "That will be 50 points from Gryffindor for…"

"You can't take off those points Draco," Snape said gently.

Before Snape could say anything else, someone shoved a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ into Draco's hands and the word "READ" was said. Snape sighed heavily and nodded to Draco, so Draco read the headline.

 _ **THE NEW LORD BLACK TAKES OVER**_

 _ **ANCIENT AND NOBLE HOUSE**_

Under the headline was a picture of a smiling Harry Potter. He was wearing a pair of new, tasteful wire-rimmed glasses and his wild mane had been tamed by a new cut and style. He looked different, namely healthier and much happier than anyone had ever seen him. Draco got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach before starting to read the article.

In short, apparently due to having a fairly close relationship to the Black Family (Potter's grandmother was Dorea Black, his mother's great aunt) and the utter stupidity of Sirius Black, Potter had been made Black's heir at birth by reason of him being made Potter's godfather. Black had even gone so far as to do an adoption rite on the kid to further entitle him to being his heir.

Contrary to popular belief (at least in the Black Family) Sirius had never been officially and legally disowned despite what Walburga had told the world. Only the current Lord Black could do that and Arcturus Black had and had made Harry Potter his heir and that Harry had been the rightful Lord Black since Arcturus had died in 1991. However, Dumbledore didn't know that but since he had Goblins "working for him" and Harry's mail redirected or, in the case of Gringotts correspondence, destroyed before it left the bank, Dumbledore thought Sirius was the Lord and Harry was merely his heir.

Since Arcturus' death in 1991, with Sirius in prison and currently, and perhaps never, being able to claim the Lordship, Harry Potter had been the most likely heir. Even though Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban all he needed to do to claim the Lordship was to go to Gringotts, take the test for Lordship and, if found acceptable, he would become the official and legal Lord Black. He could even demand a trial as he hadn't had one and had merely been thrown into Azkaban.

He hadn't. He had gone to Gringotts to get money from the Black Family vault, he wouldn't consider taking the Lordship test for "various reasons" and as long as he had access to the money, he didn't care and apparently had made some very derogatory remarks regarding the Black Family which had shocked even the Goblins. He had just assumed that since Regulus' death he was now the heir and he actually didn't know that he had indeed been disinherited and Harry made the heir.

HOWEVER, Harry Potter had just recently found out about being the heir and had first rightfully claimed the Potter Lordship (due to having been emancipated to be able to compete in the Triwizard Tournament) and then claimed and been accepted as Lord Black.

Draco felt very faint after reading this. He sincerely hoped that Potter didn't find out anything else about his Lordship.

"But he had Drakey-poo, he basically told you that the other day," a little voice whispered into Draco's mind.

The article went on to say that _"Lord Potter is in the process of seeing to the business of both his Lordships (see more information concerning this on page 3) and has only just begun dealing with the very serious family matters which had gotten out of hand since Lord Arcturus' death."_

The article mentioned that after careful investigation and being briefed about what certain members of the Black Family had been doing, the new Lord Black was forced to take drastic action. The first thing he did was to dissolve the marriage of Bellatrix Black Lestrange and take back her vast dowry into the coffers of the Family.

She would still remain Bellatrix Black despite having joined up with a "very disreputable organization which had caused her to be incarcerated in Azkaban" because Lord Black had placed her into a special law of the Black Family.

This law was known as the Chattel Law and had been created for members of the Black Family who had disgraced the Family or had threatened to or actually had done harm to the Black Family either by deeds or ruining the Family's reputation. It especially prevented them from harming or even attempting to harm the Lord Black or his direct/designed heir(s).

Due to the Black Family law, a person placed (or condemned) to this subsection also had a duty to prevent others from attempting to or harming or causing harm to the Lord Black or his heir(s). Once placed under the Chattel Law the Family member would automatically be spelled by the family magic to make sure they didn't (and couldn't) harm Lord Black or his direct heir(s) under pain of death and/or loss of their magic and the oath extended to include _**any and all of their progeny**_.

Draco had now started to hyperventilate but he had to read on just in case things weren't as bad as they could be. They were.

The next Family member to be seen to was Andromeda Black Tonks, who had already been legally disowned by a Lord Black because she had dared to marry a Muggleborn. She was still disowned and would remain so and therefore her marriage could not be dissolved.

However, she had one offspring who could have been taken back into the Black Family but she also was a member of a "very disreputable organization which Lord Black did not approve of" therefore she and any of her offspring would be barred from being brought back into the Family or marrying into the House of Black in the future as long as that offspring and/or progeny was a member of that disreputable organization.

To the unknowing reader, it could be thought that Nymphadora Tonks was also a Death Eater due to being a member of a "very disreputable organization which Lord Black did not approve of" but they would be wrong as in this case the organization Lord Black didn't approve of was the Order of the Phoenix but that should cause poor Tonks enough trouble to maybe make her rethink her decision of being an Order member.

The article then had changed track to mention some positive and very happy news. Upon finally seeing a true Family Tree located at Castle Black which contained the names of ALL members of that family whether legitimate or not, the new Lord Black had been delighted to learn that one of his very best friends was his closest Black Family member.

The article said that " _Neville Longbottom, the Longbottom heir, was a direct descendent of Callidora Black Longbottom, the cousin of Dorea Black Potter, Lord Black's grandmother, and therefore Lord Black had made Neville Franklin Longbottom his direct heir to the Black Lordship._ "

This was when Draco started crying. Large tears began to roll down his face but at least he wasn't openly sobbing and making noticeable noise and he was still able to continue to read.

The fact that House Longbottom had declared a "righteous" blood feud on House Weasley had recently been in the news then quickly forgotten about except by those involved due to Dumbledore's manipulations. However, the new Lord Black and Lord Potter had by way of this newspaper article formerly announced that both Houses would be joining the blood feud.

Unknown to Draco (not that he would ever care), this was the point where Dumbledore had, upon reading it, ran out of the Great Hall to floo to the Ministry of Magic to see if there was anything he could do to negate this alliance. There wasn't but it didn't stop him from still trying.

The article had only a few tidbits left to report such as the fate of the third Black daughter, namely, Narcissa Black Malfoy. This was the part where Snape started spelling a calming draught directly into Draco's stomach as he watched the boy's progress in reading the article.

Lord Black had also dissolved the marriage of Narcissa since her husband was a known member of a "very disreputable organization" and had he been given Veritaserum instead of just "declaring" he had been Imperiused into joining, it would have been found that he should have also been serving time with his sister-in-law.

Lord Black had definite proof to prove his claim but the Minister of Magic had refused to hear about, look at and deny anything that Lucius Malfoy wanted him to.

" _Minister Fudge even allowed Draco Malfoy to get away with murder despite over-whelming and verified evidence to the contrary. Of interest, a large amount of money listed as a 'campaign donation' has recently found its way into the vault of Minister Fudge. The 'donation' was made by Lucius Malfoy the day of the '_ _ **inquiry'**_ _concerning the death of Ronald Weasley."_

 _"I, as Lord Black and Lord Potter, have appealed to a reputable International Magical Governmental agency to begin an honest and competent investigation into this matter to see that justice will finally be done for once in Magical Britain."_

By now Snape was holding Draco up or at least until he could finish reading.

The next thing mentioned concerning Narcissa was that once her marriage had been dissolved her dowry had been recalled along with all of her "possessions and progeny" meaning that Draco was no longer a Malfoy. He would be known as Draco Black unless Lord Black chose to disown him from the Family.

That was Draco's greatest hope. If he was disowned from the Black Family (which Potter had to do, he just HAD to) then Lucius could blood adopt his own son and once again Draco would be a Malfoy and the heir. But when had Potter done anything you wanted him to do or that he was supposed to do? This time was no exception.

According to the regular laws in Magical Britain, if the Head of House was still alive and a member of his House had an offer of adoption, the Head of House had to give his or her permission for such an adoption to take place. That was an official law in Britain and one that even Dumbledore hadn't been able to change (he had tried several times for his own nefarious reasons).

Narcissa had been placed under the Chattel Law of the Black Family. One of the provisions in that law was that the Lord Black could forbid a child to be adopted by ANYONE, including his own father in the case of a marriage dissolution.

Lord Black had declared in no uncertain terms that Draco, son of Narcissa Black, would never ever be given permission to be adopted by ANYONE. NEVER, EVER BY ANYONE. He would remain a member of the Black Family and be subject to the laws of that Family and the rulings of its rightful Lord.

HOWEVER! Due to his outrageous behavior he should be considered by any and all true Pureblood as a disgrace not only to his blood but to the House of Slytherin and definitely to the House of Black. Anyone who was honest and had ever actually met Draco Malfoy (and especially if they went to school with him), knew just how improperly Draco had been raised and that he would be a disgrace to any Family's name.

Although Draco was still and always would remain a member of the House of Black, and, through the mercy of Lord Black, he would not ever be known as Draco No Name, one of the worst fates that could be afforded to a child in the Magical World. However, Lord Black could not in good conscious allow him to use the name of Black as he was too much of a blot on that Ancient and Noble Family.

Therefore, from this day on in perpetuity the former Draco Lucius Malfoy would now be known officially and legally by all as DRACO ASSWIPE COCKSUCKER.

This was when Draco finally fainted to the cheers, catcalls and laughter of 98% of the Great Hall.

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 7 – Hermione Learns a Lesson

Hermione Granger had read the article and even though she didn't like Draco Malfoy, she thought he had been very ill-treated by Harry. There was no reason for him to use such vulgarity in a public newspaper where young, innocent children could read the article.

She would be giving Harry several pieces of her mind when she finally got her hands on him and she informed everyone at the Gryffindor table of her intention.

It had been Seamus Finnegan, who had been made Prefect since Ron's death, to advise her not to because apparently, "You don't know how much trouble you are in?"

"What do you mean? I'm not in any trouble. It was Harry who behaved abominably in the Library, locked us all in…"

"He's a lord," shouted Lavender. "In fact he's two lords and you…"

"Language Brown," interrupted Hermione. "I would be taking points off for your language but since Harry has already…"

"Fred, George, someone" pleaded Lavender. "Someone tell Hermione that she is in trouble, just how much trouble she is in and if she was really intelligent _**. . .shut**_."

"That will be ten points Brown for your…"

"Miss Granger," said McGonagall who had seen the fight beginning, "I think that you and I should have a talk in my office. Now!"

Hermione didn't think she was being taken to McGonagall's office due to being in trouble. No doubt the Professor had something to tell her concerning Harry which she didn't want to say in front of the "mob" as Hermione privately referred to the other Gryffindors.

So off she went with her Head of House for a meeting. Since the Headmaster had quickly left the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall would be receiving Hermione's weekly "Harry report" as it had not been the first time this had happened. The poor Headmaster had so many duties and responsibilities that at times he had to delegate them to one of the teachers.

Instead of the normal meeting, Hermione received a brief education concerning the Familial House systems in Magical Britain. After receiving the briefing, Hermione was asked "Do you have any questions concerning what I just told you?"

The only "question" which Hermione had was why such a barbaric system had been allowed to exist for this long. She then began giving several suggestions as to how to properly correct the system before a frustrated McGonagall shouted, "This is not a subject for debate. It is the way things are, always have been and no doubt will remain _**despite all the things you intend to do to fix things to your liking**_ ," she ended sarcastically.

The girl hadn't stopped to listen to McGonagall's last outburst and had merely continued ranting on about how _**she**_ _ **would**_ _ **fix things**_ once she graduated from Hogwarts. McGonagall spelled her mouth shut then magically tied her to her chair. She would try once more to make the girl listen and if not, well that was her problem.

"Miss Granger…Hermione," the old witch began. "Whether you like a certain law or tradition in our world does not mean a thing. As things stand now, you will either start…behaving yourself, obey the rules and KEEP YOUR BIG MOUTH SHUT or you will suffer the consequences."

That seemed to get the girl's attention so McGonagall continued. "First of all no matter the ways or means he used to accomplish it, Harry Potter has found out about his heritage, his rights and privileges and certain…things…which have been done to him. The Headmaster is responsible for _**most**_ of the things and his guilt is undeniable."

"Also, we…all of us who followed Albus Dumbledore and blindly obeyed his orders…well we all are now considered as aiders, abettors and accessories, and we will all be at least questioned. Some of us will be brought to trial and no doubt will suffer the consequences of our collusion.

"Depending upon our actions and our…guilt…we will either be imprisoned or at the very least discharged from our positions and perhaps have to leave the country if we are allowed."

Granger gave her a weird look as if she didn't understand why any of this would be happening. McGonagall sighed to herself as she realized the girl was already too firmly on the side of Dumbledore and her natural hubris made her believe that if she thought Albus Dumbledore was incapable of doing wrong then it must be so and she, Hermione Granger, would stay faithful to him and remain one of his trusted soldiers.

"I know you are having…difficulty…understanding or accepting what is occurring but please, for your own sake, KEEP YOUR BIG MOUTH SHUT AND YOUR THOUGHTS AND TRUE OPINIONS TO YOURSELF."

"You are still a student and under age so a defense can be made that you were misled. However, it has been noticed that you have done nothing but chastise Lord Potter-Black and Heir Longbottom and I have been given the task to warn you to stop – for your own safety – or else you will find yourself in a lot of trouble."

Hermione just glared at her Head of House.

"Do I make myself clear Miss Granger or would you rather – for your own safety – be sent down from Hogwarts?"

That threat seemed to catch the girl's attention – for about two seconds. Then her face turned angry and she was bursting at the seams to talk, shout, rant, threaten and do all of it at the same time. McGonagall sighed.

"Then you are a fool Hermione Granger. I will release you but you will not say a thing and you will immediately leave this room and return to Gryffindor Tower. I suggest you have a chat with the Weasley Twins, Ms. Patil, Ms. Brown and Mr. Whitcomb, the 7th year Prefect. And when I say chat, I mean just that. They get to talk while you LISTEN for once in your life."

With that said McGonagall released her and actually spelled the girl out of her office.

Hermione was beyond furious and very disappointed with her Head of House. How could McGonagall who had known and even been mentored by Dumbledore so cavalierly dismiss him?

Well Hermione Granger was made of sterner stuff and instead of going back to Gryffindor Tower like she had been ordered she would be going to the library and doing some extensive research. She was confident that she would find some loophole regarding this Lordship nonsense and use it to help the Headmaster.

Hermione had been so upset that she actually forgot that she was supposed to be in class at the moment. Madam Pince debated if she should remind the girl but then decided not to. Despite Hermione being a known bibliophile it did not endear the girl to the librarian. In fact, Madam Pince didn't particularly like the girl as she found her personality too abrasive. She also thought her much too proud and unbending.

Madam Pince was a Half-blood who was almost a Pureblood. She really didn't care about blood status but she did care about tradition and she truly loathe Muggleborns like Hermione Granger who entered this new and incredible world and refused to really learn about the traditions, customs and beauty of Magic. Instead they came in and started criticizing this world, telling others just what was wrong with it and _how things should be_.

Of course, Dumbledore could be blamed for that as he had done more than anyone else to encourage Muggleborns to feel superior. It was his fault that Muggleborns thought that they shouldn't be the ones to conform, oh no, it should be the Purebloods and Half-bloods who should be Mugglefied. The children of the Goddess should meekly submit themselves to the unbending will of these upstarts.

It disgusted her to even think about it. It was bad enough when a normal, average Muggleborn held these views but then when a very intelligent, privileged, spoiled, pampered brat like Granger came along…. It was Muggleborns like Granger who could turn someone into a follower of the Dark Lord.

So Madam Pince simply went about her business and occasionally glanced at the girl who was too involved in her research. She smiled knowing that all of the girl's work would be useless as Dumbledore had seen to the removal of many books from the Hogwarts library. He had a nasty, unforgiveable habit of hiding knowledge from the students and many would never know about how things really worked in this world because of him.

Therefore the likes of Granger would spend their days, nights and lives floundering around and never knowing the truth. And they always wondered why they couldn't get a decent job in this world. So to quote an old cliché, you reap what you sow.

Hermione lost track of time and it wasn't until Madam Pince announced that the library was closing that the girl realized she had spent the entire day in the library, had missed all of her classes and forgot to go to lunch and dinner. Worst of all, she hadn't found anything useful.

She trudged back to the Tower and went to her room. She was embarrassed that she would now have to ask her roommates for the homework assignments given in classes and…shudder, shudder…ask to borrow their notes, at least for the classes which they shared.

Lavender and Parvati merely glared at her. They gave her the homework assignments but wouldn't give her their notes because of the many times she had chastised them for their sloppy note-taking. "You'll just memorize all of the information in the chapters anyway," she was told.

Well it was true, she would do better making her own notes up but she did need the homework assignments. She prepared for bed and then settled in to do some reading and get an early start tomorrow and do some homework before breakfast.

She knew she wouldn't fall asleep easily because of her disappointing research and her anger at Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom and even Professor McGonagall. Not for the first time did she wonder why the Magical World refused to see sense. Why couldn't they listen to a person like herself who knew so much, possessed high moral standards and who was willing to tutor them all in how things should be.

She stopped to wonder if the Headmaster ever felt as frustrated as she did at the moment, knowing that he had all the wisdom, intelligence and answers needed to change the world yet so many fools just refused to listen and learn.

She finally fell asleep thinking all about her superiority and just what she was going to say and do to one Harry James Potter when she finally got her hands on him.

The next morning Hermione was up with the sun as she had a letter to write. She sent a school owl to Flourishes and Blotts requesting the names of books about "Lordships" in Britain and prices and she needed this information as soon as possible for a school project. She often ordered special books from this shop and considered herself one of its best customers.

She was walking down the owlery steps when she ran into one of the very last persons she wanted to see, who was carrying letters in his hand no doubt to send them off to "tell his father" of his insults. All sympathy from her that he had earned yesterday vanished as she looked him in the eye and muttered "Draco" in greeting. She remembered how he had gotten away with the murder of her dearest friend but she certainly wasn't going to address him by that obscene name which Harry had called him.

He stiffen at hearing his first name and she thought he was just going to walk passed her without acknowledging the greeting until he mumbled "Mudblood" in return and kept on climbing the steps.

How dare he utter such a word, especially after she had just been civil to him.

"I can't believe that after what happened to you yesterday you would dare say such a foul word to me, who is probably the only person not insulting you," she said coldly.

He stopped for a moment, then slowly turned around to face her and then replied, "I can say anything I want to the likes of you as despite the recent…tragedies…which have happened in my life, the fact remains that I was born, raised and will always be a Pureblood while you were born, raised and will always be a Mudblood. Blood and tradition still do and always will count in the Magical World. It is as simple as that Granger."

He then turned back and continued climbing the stairs to send his letter. But Hermione was not going to let him get away with that insult any more than she was going to let Harry continue behaving in the manner that he was.

"You really are a fool to insult me _'Mr. C'_ " said the girl. "You know perfectly well that I am Harry's best friend…now that Ron is dead…so I just might be able to convince him to retract his bit of mischief."

She saw him freeze and knew she had hit a nerve. She smiled and thought that she now had him at her mercy as he would do anything to get rid of that disgusting name and only she could help him.

But she was wrong. It was he who now turned slowly around and smiled at her. He was several steps above her so he was truly looking down at her. She was at his feet and she was now physically beneath him.

"Oh Granger, Granger, Granger," he said in a tone as if talking to a small child or a slow adult. "I thought the rumors to be just that – rumors. Even at this moment I am having trouble believing that with all that has happened since the start of school, you just don't get it, do you?"

Insulted, Hermione asked "What do you mean by that remark - _'Mr. C'_?"

He actually sighed before saying, "The entire school knows, as do all of the staff, that neither you nor that miserable excuse for a Pureblood were really Potter's friends. Oh you, at least, probably thought you were friends with Potter, but friends…don't treat another friend the way you treated Potter."

"And what would you know about anything – especially friends? Surely you must know that you don't have any and never have. Crabbe and Goyle are your bodyguards and personal goons and the other Slytherins…"

"Of course I don't have friends," he said surprising her. "A Malfoy and others of great wealth and power don't, as it is a sign of weakness. The Dark Lord wouldn't have a friend if you paid him a billion galleons as it is just too great a risk. No, I have, or at least had, allies, vassals and sycophants. At the moment I have lost them, but that is not to say that I will never get them, or others like them, back in the future."

"Now you Granger are in a true – what do Muggles say – 'pickle' or some other vinegary vegetable? From what people say you never had friends in the Muggle World because of your _abrasive personality_ and other undesirable traits. You definitely don't have them here, or at least now. You did befriend Potter in your first year and he was your only friend but now he isn't as he has publically acknowledged what everybody has known for a long, long time."

"Of course Harry is my friend! You don't know what you are…"

"Granger, you spied on him. You've betrayed him for probably the entire time he befriended you. I don't know if he always knew it or just recently found out, but if the entire school knew it, even he couldn't have been that dumb not to know."

"YOU ARE INSANE. I WOULD NEVER BETRAY OR SPY OR HURT HARRY IN ANY WAY SO DON'T YOU DARE…"

"You spied on him for Dumbledore. You tattled back every little thing he said or did to McGonagall and Dumbledore – no doubt for the Greater Good but still…"

" _Headmaster Dumbledore_ was helping Harry. He cared for him, guided him and was raising to be…"

"A bloody pawn in whatever obscene game Dumbles is playing at," he snapped back at her now clearly angry and the laughter gone.

"He wasn't hiding him to protect him from big, bad Death Eaters, he was hiding him from his heritage. He was deliberately keeping him ignorant about everything he should have known from his heritage, his position in the world HIS WEALTH and POWER. Dumbledore sealed the Potters' Will for Merlin's sake and dumped him off with the filthiest of Muggles."

"They were his only living relatives and he needed to be placed with his blood relatives because of his mother's sacrifice so that…"

"So that those magic-hating Muggles could do to him what they did, treat him according to Dumbles' plans or whatever. Didn't you ever notice that he starving when he first arrived? Always came back after the summer holidays, looking worse, hungrier and even wounded at times? He was bloody abused."

"Harry was never abused, he was just a picky eater who was accident prone and…"

"Was dressed in huge, ugly, stained repulsive rags and was definitely not making a fashion statement. He had taped glasses, shoes which were always falling apart and was afraid to be touched. You are the know-it-all and self-proclaimed resident expert so why didn't you see what even the likes of Crabbe and Goyle saw?"

She had no quick retort to that question. She had always noticed but had been told by Dumbledore that Harry was accident prone, a picky eater, etc. and since it had been Albus Dumbledore who said so it must be true despite the evidence she saw.

"It was an open secret that Dumbledore had some kind of special agenda in regards to Harry Potter. My father ordered me to trick him into becoming a Malfoy vassal but the Weasleys had leeched onto him too fast and I will admit I made a mistake in insulting _'his first friend'_ but Merlin it was a Weasley so who would have thought that anybody, especially Harry Potter would be defending the likes of him? But since he knew absolutely NOTHING, he latched onto Weasley and you all participated in keeping him isolated and from making any other friends even in Gryffindor that wasn't a Weasley. Didn't you?"

"Ron and all the Weasleys are fine, decent people who are noble and true and only their poverty and being so faithful to Professor Dumbledore have given them the reputation as 'blood traitors' by your lot," she snapped.

"Granger you don't know anything about anything in this world do you? No, not really, which is why after your warning talk with McGonagall you actually skipped all classes and meals and rummaged through the library looking for _proof_ to justify your already formed opinion. I wager you don't even know what happened yesterday, do you?"

She did have to admit that she had been so busy but what could have possibly have happened since yesterday that was so earth-shattering?

Draco sighed and said, "I suppose you can read it in the _Prophet_ , unless you are planning to skip everything again and do your research so I better tell you now. Since Potter has also assumed the Potter Lordship he has forced the public reading of his parents' Will, had the Goblins produce all financial statements done on his behalf by Dumbledore since November of 1981 and a few other things."

"So."

"So," he smirked, "Dumbledore has been arrested or rather will be once they catch him. He escaped by a portkey but left his chief underlings at the mercy of Amelia Bones, the Head of the DMLE, who had all of the Heads of House arrested. Everybody was confined to their respective Houses since before lunch, except for you who was hiding in the library, and me who was…hiding in my private place in the castle."

"Head counts were done but since we were the only ones missing and all things considered it was decided by the remaining teachers that we should be left alone."

"But I asked Lavender and Parvati for their notes and our homework assignments and they…"

"Everybody was given homework assignments and the meals were served in our Houses. It was announced last night that classes would be held today and starting with breakfast all meals would be served in the Great Hall as usual. I snuck in very early to shower, change and write my letters and Blaise filled me in on things. At least he and some true allies are still just calling me Draco," he sighed heavily.

"Tell me Granger, what are people calling you now? You said you talked with Brown and Patil so did they tell you anything?"

By her silence he had his answer.

"Well I guess that is all I have to say Granger, at least to you. I will now mail my letters and go down to the Great Hall and try to have a peaceful breakfast before I start my day. I know I will have anything but. I do have to try though until I can do some serious planning and hear from my father. That is if I still have a father."

With that said he finished his climb and sent an owl off to his father in a forlorn hope that he would get a reply. He was truly frightened as he knew his own father all too well and unless Lucius possessed a splinter of paternal devotion somewhere deep in his soul, Draco was well and truly screwed. That was why he had written a few other letters hoping that someone would reply to him. At the moment it was the only thing he could do besides trying to survive his fellow students.

Hermione made her way to the Great Hall. She wanted to get some breakfast and read the _Prophet_ before making any decisions concerning her day.

Although she definitely didn't like their conversation she realized that it was the longest and most civil interaction she had ever had with Malfoy and unfortunately most of it was true or at least the part concerning her mission given to her by Dumbledore.

But Harry had to still be her friend! He never disagreed with her or at least not for long. She was helping him by helping Professor Dumbledore help him. She had been given a task by the greatest living wizard today to help, look after and keep the Boy-Who-Lived on the straight and narrow and on the path of the Light.

Harry should be grateful to her and thanking her and definitely not siding with Neville and that crazy Ravenclaw girl. The Weasleys had suffered so much and deserved to have a good life, a better life than they had due to their unavoidable poverty and faithfulness to Dumbledore. Now Ron and Ginny were dead and Mrs. Weasley was insane, perhaps permanently. It just wasn't fair.

At least Malfoy had been punished for getting away with murder and Hermione knew that he would never, ever recover his social position as it was the will of Karma.

Unknown to her, Harry had always called Hermione "the dumbest smart person I know" as despite her intelligence and photographic memory, she was very naïve and too much of a bossy know-it-all to notice when she was wrong. Naturally he had only said this to Hedwig, who totally agreed with him. Had he said it to Ron or any other Weasley it would immediately been told to the girl if only to hurt her.

So Hermione Granger would start her day doing and thinking what she always did never knowing until it was much too late that like Draco, she was well and truly screwed.

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 8 – The Joy of Revenge

Harry Potter had been very busy the past few days but fortunately Neville and Luna were assisting him in his work.

So had the Goblins but they were charging outrageous fees, mostly because they could. Had he been in the same predicament and been poor, they probably wouldn't have let him into their bank and never helped him. But for the moment he needed their help but he had every intention of just using them until they were no longer of use to him.

At the same time that Hermione Granger was entering the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry was just finishing up an all-night meeting consisting of his personal lawyers, the Goblins, Amelia Bones and a few Unspeakables from the Ministry of Magic of both Britain and France. There were also a few of the more important members of the ICW who absolutely hated Albus Dumbledore and had been praying for his downfall for many a year. Finally there was Xeno Lovegood, editor of The Quibbler who was taking notes and recording the meeting for posterity and for the series of exclusive articles he would be writing.

Sirius Black was the current topic of conversation. Harry had explained everything he knew about Sirius from not being told he even existed until he had escaped Azkaban, to the insulting letter he sent Harry via Hermione Granger. Fortunately for Sirius, Harry had told about Sirius being framed and had even contributed his memories for a pensive reading.

"I don't exactly want him dead as he was only guilty of being a…total jerk, an idiot, a fool, uncaring, a Dumbledore lackey and a bunch of other things which all basically helped to contribute to the horrendous life I have been forced to live since 31 October 1981. He made his own decisions even if they were all under Dumbles' order. He CHOSE to obey them and totally ignored my welfare."

"I have given you all the information I know about him and now his fate is in his own hands. When I change wards on the Black House, the Fidelius will fall and I will then cast everyone out of the house. Since Sirius is probably still in the house, should he be captured all I ask is that he be given a chance to tell his side of the events and not be given the Kiss upon capture. That is all I will do for him. He made his choices and I have made mine."

Amelia Bones agreed to Harry's request if it was in her power to do so. If he was captured "by her people" she would see that he was placed in a safe cell or even a safe house and be administered Veritaserum. If someone else's "people" got to him first…well that was the luck of the draw. At this point in time she could not promise that he would get a trial but would do her best. She also promised to ask Sirius a few questions which Harry wanted asked while Sirius was under the effects of Veritaserum. He gave her a sealed envelope which she would not open until they had Sirius in "safe possession" by her people.

Harry could not give her anything but a general area of where the Black house was located until the Fidelius was dropped. Once the Fidelius was dropped and the new wards took over, Harry would be kicking everyone out of the house and it would then be the best possible time to catch people especially Dumbledore as that was probably where he was hiding out.

Once everything was settled, the Goblins took Harry to a special chamber and the ritual to change the wards on _all Black properties_ began. The Fidelius was dissolved on Grimmauld Place and Harry when then able to give Amelia Bones and her Aurors the address so they could assemble outside the house, cast spells to disillusion and seal off the Muggle street and wait to see who were thrown out of the house. Harry gave the team 5 minutes to get everything ready and then he cast all inhabitants from the house and _their personal possessions only_ from the house. Only Kreacher was allowed to remain as a Black house elf.

Dumbledore had indeed been hiding at Grimmauld Place but since he had felt the Fidelius dropping he had managed to make a hasty escape. He took time only to retrieve his personal items as well as the "useful" items he had found in the Black house. Unfortunately for him those possessions would be automatically recalled once he left as that was how the Black Family wards were set. Only a current and non-disowned member of the Black Family could remove any of the books or other possessions of the Family.

But at least Dumbledore had escape with his things which, after all, _was all that really mattered_. He only managed to shout out a warning to Remus Lupin that "the Fidelius just dissolved, run for your lives" before he left.

Remus knew Sirius was up "feeding Buckbeak" which meant he was drinking and talking with the hippogriff. Remus had just managed to apparated to the room in time to shout, "We are under attack and have to leave right…" when the casting out took place. The two wizards and the hippogriff found themselves on the street and had barely 30 seconds before the Aurors appeared. Sirius managed to mount Buckbeak and take off as Remus apparated away.

The Aurors did manage to catch a few Order members who had been using the house as a refuge. Poor Hestia Jones had come off the night shift of her Auror job, had reported to Dumbledore everything she had learned at the Ministry concerning the "Potter problem" then had a quick bite and was in the process of having a shower before going to sleep. It was a very revealing experience for all concerned, especially when Amelia had the Auror arrested for "questioning" among other things.

Sirius' and Remus' personal possessions were now lying in the street as they had not had time to grab them. Therefore both wizards only had the clothes on their back and their wands. Remus had about 10 sickles and 3 knuts in his pockets but Sirius didn't keep money on his person since he was confined to the house.

Thus both wizards were in a lot of trouble. Sirius had been drinking almost non-stop since the newspaper article had come out. Despite all he had been guilty of doing to or not doing for Harry, the fact that Harry had "robbed him" of his rightful heritage had caused Sirius to sink into an even deeper depression. He had believed the cock and bull story which Dumbledore had told him about the circumstances of Ron's death and the few others who had come to the house had only confirmed what _Dumbledore had told them._

Since he had been obliged to flee from Hogwarts, Dumbledore had done nothing but slander Harry Potter, while casting a few spells on Sirius to inflame him more, and Sirius had sunk into such a deep depression that all he could do was drink and bemoan his fate. Well that and doing a hell of a lot of heavy cursing against the traitorous, evil, cowardly, worthless piece of dragon dung which his beloved godson had proven himself to be.

As Sirius flew off with Buckbeak his only thought was how he going to find Remus. They had been so secure in the house that they had never formed an escape plan. Dumbledore controlled all things and it never occurred to anyone that they would be found since Grimmauld Place was placed under a Fidelius by Dumbledore himself so NO ONE could gain entrance to the house unless Dumbledore had given them permission. Since _**this time**_ Dumbledore was the secret keeper, everyone felt quite safe.

But that was before **Harry Potter had betrayed them in all things.** So now Sirius was giving Buckbeak his head and flying off to who knew where and he had no idea where anyone else, not even Remus, had gone or where he was going for that matter. So he just had to trust Buckbeak to find them a place of safety.

The rest of the Order was in the same predicament. Where could they go? Even if they escaped the Aurors, which some of them had, they couldn't go back to their respective homes or the homes of other Order members as the Aurors would be hitting those places no doubt looking for Dumbledore. Hogwarts was the only other place where they could gather in safety but only if Dumbledore was there. Now he was even more of a fugitive than they were and no one had any idea where he had gone.

Dumbledore had his own bolt hole, as he always had and no one knew about it not even his brother Aberforth. His mother had inherited a small house that belonged to her maiden sister and the sister had died some months after Albus' mother so he, as the eldest, had inherited it. After it had faded from the memories of his aunt's Muggle's neighbors due to their deaths, etc., he had placed wards around it and eventually cast a Fidelius on it once he had mastered the charm.

In this house he hid some of his more valuable – and illegal – possessions and had kept it stocked with food and drink which he acquired from Hogwarts. He was the only person who knew of its existence and he fled to this refuge. He needed to hide, think and recover from the shock he was in.

How had things come to this? Everything had always gone as plans so how had that Half-blood son of a Mudblood whore bested him so thoroughly?

Impossible as it seemed someone had gotten to the brat and taught him things and coached him through every step of the way to accomplish this coup. But who? The boy had been under his ruthless control since before he was born – hell Dumbledore had arranged for his parents to marry and demanded that a child be conceived out of Lily Evans and IT HAD BEEN DONE.

The boy had never had a chance to learn anything about his parents, magic, heritage – nothing at all. Dumbledore paid the Dursleys to follow his instructions to the letter and he knew that they had. He had personally set up the famous blood wards which "protected" the boy not only from Death Eaters but from potential rescuers. The Weasleys sunk their claws in the boy from the moment he had arrived at King's Cross Station and isolated and controlled him under Dumbledore's watchful eye.

Granger had been an added bonus as she was one of those Mudbloods, much like Lily Evans had been, but one who had succumbed to the cult worship of Albus Dumbledore almost immediately unlike the six years it had taken to get Evans in his power.

He had effectively neutralized Sirius Black, only allowing him to be rescued by Harry because he could be controlled and help to finance the Order.

NO ONE HAD ACCESS TO THE BOY UNLESS PERMITTED BY DUMBLEDORE – NOT EVEN THE GOBLINS. The boy had no allies, no real friends and lacked the knowledge and inclination to acquire anything on his own because of all of the blocks, spells and potions Dumbledore had placed on him.

SO HOW HAD IT HAPPENED?

Voldemort had to be behind it. Dumbledore didn't know how or why as Dumbledore had even Voldemort on a short leash but that had to be the answer.

Unfortunately, Severus Snape, his only spy in Voldemort's den, and was currently residing in a Ministry holding cell awaiting the completion of his interrogation and ultimate trial. Therefore Dumbledore had no access to finding out Voldemort's plans. He also needed information as to what was happening at Hogwarts and the Ministry and to find out just how many of his minions were still free and able to help him.

DAMN HARRY POTTER AND WHOEVER HAD HELPED HIM.

Since there was nothing he could do at the moment he decided to have a good meal from one of the many pre-made meals kept in his stasis pantry, drink some good wine and then have a good night's sleep before he did anything else. He was safe and needed to recover, regroup and make plans, but he would survive and that was all that matter.

Hermione Granger, however, could not make the same claim as, much to her shock and horror Draco Malfoy had been correct. Both of them had been taken by Aurors to the staff room or what was now being called by the student body, the interrogation room.

Hermione found out that just because she thought of herself as being one of the greatest gifts to Magic since, at the very least, Rowena Ravenclaw – or at least had the potential to be so after she completed Hogwarts – most of those in power did not.

She had been led into the room to find a panel of five people unknown to her and had immediately made the mistake of chastising them and demanding "her rights" and threatening them in an almost Malfoy-like way, "Just wait until Professor Dumbledore hears of this outrage" only to be told in no uncertain terms to "SHUT UP" as she was in a pit full of trouble. Then she had been quickly silenced and read the charges against her.

The charges consisted of listing all of the things she had said to, about and did to Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom and, to some extent Luna Lovegood since the beginning of the current school term starting with the ride on the Hogwarts Express. When unsilenced she boldly told the panel that yes, she had done or said such things but only because it was the right and moral thing to do and that the Headmaster had told her to.

The panel had apparently not been impressed and then started to ask her questions concerning her relationship with Harry Potter from their first year onward. They asked the questions in a certain way and told her (more than once) to reply with a yes or no answer. Naturally she didn't and tried to give a full explanation for why she had done such and such a thing and the logic behind it, but was constantly being rudely ordered to just answer yes or no.

After a mere five minutes or so of this, a frustrated member of the panel had started throwing some very painful hexes at her and yelled "Just answer yes or no" but it had only served to further anger the girl and she started yelling back at him, demanding her rights and better treatment, throwing Dumbledore's name around to intimidate them and only stopped when Draco Malfoy started laughing out loud at her.

"Granger, you are such an ass," he managed to get out before nearly collapsing in laughter. A fight would have started if Hermione had the chance.

She then turned her anger at him and started saying a few rude things before another panel member shouted out "GRANGER YOU HAVE ONE SECOND TO BEHAVE YOURSELF AND YOU WILL ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ASKED OF YOU IN A SIMPLE YES OR NO OR YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TAKEN TO A MINISTRY CELL AND HAVE A DEMENTOR FOR A GUARD."

She huffed and puffed in indignation for a moment or two before stupidly turning on her harasser and attempted to tell him off for his rude behavior. Unfortunately, he just looked at one of the Aurors, gave him a nod and the next thing Hermione Granger knew she was being taken away from Hogwarts via floo only to end up in the promised Ministry cell with a Dementor guarding it.

Two days later she found herself facing the same panel. She had been taken from her cell to an interrogation room at the Ministry and then asked the same questions and warned to give only a yes or no for an answer. For some reason Malfoy was also there looking eagerly at her. She just ignored him.

Now one would think that someone of even lesser intelligence that Goyle or Crabbe would have gotten the message and replied in a respectful yes or no answer. Someone of Hermione's intelligence would definitely know better after the last two days but did she?

"First of all I again demand to have my rights…"

"Pay up," shouted Draco "A.C." (the name gentile persons were calling him). The five members of the panel each began retrieving what looked like a galleon from their respective money bags (after one of them silenced Hermione) and an Auror collected them and took the money over to a smug looking Draco who pocketed the money he had received from the panel. From Hermione he merely received a very dirty look.

Hermione was unsilenced but a panel member quickly said, "Since it is apparent you haven't learned your lesson, you will be taken back to your cell for…"

"NO. NO, I'LL ANSWER JUST YES OR NO," screamed a frightened Hermione. "Rights" be damned there was no way she would return to that cell even if she had to put aside all of her correct and moral arguments and carefully prepared defense of Albus Dumbledore.

Numerous questions were asked of her. After the questions ceased she was asked by the head of the panel to state "Other than saying that you were told to do all of the things you admit doing concerning Harry Potter and to a lesser extent, Neville Longbottom by Albus Dumbledore, do you have any reasons _**of your own**_ why you did such things or acted in such a way. You cannot use the excuse of anything being for the _**Greater Good unless you can specify exactly WHOSE Greater Good it was for**_."

She thought for a moment before replying meekly, "Well it was always for the Greater Good of Harry."

"How so? Do you consider Harry Potter being treated like a house elf by his Muggle relatives, starved, beaten, overworked and dressed in rags an example of GOOD?" He then quickly added, "And you can't give the excuse that _**Dumbledore always told you**_ that Harry Potter was exaggerating, was accident prone, was a picky eater and just had dreadful fashion sense, We want to hear your own reason why you 'apparently never noticed anything was wrong whenever Potter came back from his relatives."

Hermione had to stop and think about this. Her eyes and common sense told her that something was wrong with Harry but Dumbledore HAD always given those excuses for Harry's condition. Since she KNEW that Dumbledore only had Harry's welfare in mind and would never let any harm come to him…well she'd try and tell them that – as fast as she could get it out so they wouldn't interrupt her. So she did just that and received only silence and stares from the panel.

Then Draco threw in his two knuts. "Granger did you know that it was said around the school that you were the 'dumbest smart person' that anyone knew?" he added sarcastically.

"Shut up _'Mr. C'_ " she shot back at him. Then she noticed he merely smiled and held out his hand and once again an Auror started collecting galleons from the panel to hand over to him.

Before she could "blow her top" and lash out at him, the Head got her attention by saying, "He's right you know. In fact, Lord Potter-Black said that in one of the depositions he gave. I personally didn't know what he meant until I made your acquaintance."

Then another member of the panel added, "And none of us could believe what Mr… "Mr. C" told us and when he asked us to make a wager we all did because we simply couldn't believe that you would…well would act the way you were doing."

Even Hermione didn't have a comeback for that statement.

"I don't know if you were aware of it, Miss Granger," the Head began, "But there were a few illegal potions in your system. They were administered in your morning pumpkin juice. There were several charms cast on you, mostly ones of loyalty directed to Dumbledore, McGonagall and all of the Weasleys. Also you have obliviated four times since your first year and the obliviates have Dumbledore's magical signature."

She just started at the wizard until he said, "No doubt you still don't believe such a thing is possible since it concerns Dumbledore do you?"

She didn't answer. He just sighed before informing her that due to her medical findings and the propaganda she had been exposed to since her entry in the Magical World, she would not – for the moment at least – be punished for any of her behavior in regard to Potter, Longbottom or Lovegood.

"I wasn't aware that this was a hearing or a trial," she responded snootily.

She was going to say something else – which would have really got her in trouble (as some people never learn) – but then Draco held out his hand again, the Auror collected money and gave it over to Draco. This only served to infuriate the girl but for once, she wisely kept her head.

"I believe Minerva McGonagall advised you to kept your head down, your mouth shut and behave yourself," retorted another member of the panel. "Originally we were only going to ask you questions but your rude and totally uncalled for behavior resulted in this becoming a hearing."

"However, based on your current behavior and your attitude in general I think you should know that the ONLY reason you are not going to be publically tried for your actions is due to the mercy of Lord Potter-Black and Lord Longbottom. They think you have just been very badly misled, poorly educated and lied to so you are being given a chance to…"

Hermione now started to actually curse Harry and Neville because it was evident, as usual, that neither of them knew what they were talking about – her being poorly educated, indeed – and she wasn't going to take any more of this harassment or abuse even from some stupid inbred Ministry fools.

"HARRY POTTER AND NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM ARE STUPID, IDIOTIC FOOLS AND HAVE NO RIGHT – NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER - TO TALK THAT WAY ABOUT ME – _**ME**_ _ **!**_

She calmed down for about a nano second to catch her breath and then said, "THEY BOTH ARE STUPID, IDIOTIC FOOLS WHO ARE LESS THAN MEDIORCE, PATHETIC, LAZY, WORTHLESS, UNGRATEFUL, STUPID EXCUSES FOR WIZARDS AND DESERVE TO BE PUT IN THEIR PLACE. THEY SHOULD BE GROVELING AT MY FEET IN THANKSGIVING FOR MY EVEN NOTICING THEM LET ALONE HELPING THEM PASS THEIR TESTS AND DO THEIR SCHOOL WORK BECAUSE IF I DIDN'T HELP THEM – ESPECIALLY HARRY – THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN EXPELLED FOR STUPITY AND…"

"Whoa Granger," interrupted Malfoy, "For someone who thinks she is so smart you used the words stupid 4 times, idiotic twice, fools twice and several other very common non-descriptive words that IDIOT Weasley would use – just goes to show you hung out with him too long and it started turning your brain to mush and now you…."

SLAP, BLAM, SLAP (again) came the sound of a furious Hermione Granger slapping Draco A.C.'s face before screaming out 'RON WEASLEY WAS A VERITABLE SAINT AND NOBLE, BRAVE WIZARD **WHO DIDN'T DESERVE TO BE MURDERED BY YOU** OR ANYBODY. IF ANYBODY SHOULD HAVE DIED IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN NEVILLE OR THE LOON OR EVEN HARRY SINCE HE WUSSED OUT AND NOT POOR RON."

"That is my Head of House you are defaming," Draco replied quietly. "Weasley was a piece of filth and stood aside purposely so that I would hit Harry. He even had a smirk on his face when it happened. Tell me Granger, was it all according to Dumbledore's plans like it usually is?"

SMACK, SLAP went her hand once again until he grabbed her by the wrist and turning to the panel announced, "Do you need any more proof of her true allegiance or motives?"

"No Mr….C," replied the panel head. "Your theory was correct and I will tell your Head of House of your cooperation and the…injuries you received."

He then turned to Hermione and informed her that since she had not only decided to not accept the help of two Lords and had even gone so far as to insult them publically, any and all "breaks" she would have been given were negated and instead of being allowed to return to Hogwarts for some real education in regard to the ways, laws and workings of the Wizarding World. Instead she would be returning to her cell and be joining those teachers and Order of the Phoenix members who had not managed to escape justice.

Realizing what had happened to her (she was set up by Malfoy) she stupidly screamed out, "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME. I HAVE RIGHTS."

"NO YOU DON'T," yelled back the panel head. "Maybe by the end of the inquest you will be allowed the opportunity to learn the truth which Albus Dumbledore has done his best to hide from all Muggleborns. He's actually sabotaged the education of Muggleborns and the garbage he has been spewing about being their defender, their savior, etc. has been nothing but lies."

"That's it!" Hermione said. "Just take me to that cell now as I refuse to listen to your slander about the GREATEST WIZARD SINCE MERLIN. It is obvious that you are nothing more than Death Eaters anyway and I will shout out to the public with my last breath that fact and if I have to will be a martyr in the cause of justice, nobility…"

"GRANGER YOU ARE AN ASS OF THE FIRST MAGNITUDE," screamed Draco. He would have said more but after a nod from the panel head, two Aurors grabbed Hermione and roughly escorted her back to her cell while she continued to rant about her loyalty to and the greatness of Albus Dumbledore, etc., etc., etc.

When the door had been closed and the sounds of her ravings started fading as she was led down the hall, the head turned to Draco and asked, "Has she truly always been like this?"

He actually sighed and replied, "Yes. My Father says many Muggleborns are the same way due to Dumbledore's _Greater Good Master Plan_ or whatever it is he is doing or calling it. The smarter they are or the higher their family is on the Muggle social scale, the worse they are as they think that we are so very backwards and refuse to listen or learn about the wonderful world they have entered."

He then added, "Truthfully when I first came to Hogwarts I thought my father was exaggerating but then I met Granger. Even before the sorting she was…well she was being a lot like she is now except she hadn't been _Dumbledized_ as my Mother calls it. After she latched onto Potter, it became worse. The whole school knew that Potter was being isolated by the Weasleys under Dumbles' orders and he only allowed Granger to become a part of the privileged few because she would be useful and was a big tattletale."

"Yes, that has been the general consensus of everyone who has been interviewed so far, including your House Lord and Lord Longbottom."

Now that he had the floor so to speak Draco took the opportunity to try and earn some "points" with Potter. "Did anyone tell you of the Gryffindor oath yet?"

"You mean the one that all Gryffindors had to take regarding the 'handling' of Harry Potter?"

"Yes, it was an open secret to most of the school that Dumbledore ordered all Gryffindors to adhere to his direct orders regarding how Potter was to be treated in any given year. Apparently EVERYBODY knew except him."

"No Lord Potter-Black did know," replied one of the other panel members. "He was not as oblivious as everyone thought, he just – what did he call it?"

"Played along with it since he couldn't do anything about it," added another member. "How that boy survived all of these years especially considering what he was put through each year, I'll never know."

"So he actually knew all along?" asked Draco. Draco had always been curious whether Potter was just totally stupid (as Snape insisted he was), didn't want to believe what was happening to him so chose not to, was spelled into accepting his life or was really planning on cursing everybody dead on the day he finally snapped.

"Yes he knew, but how does one fight Albus Dumbledore's total control over everything?"

Draco had to agree with that statement. His Father and his friends and allies had been trying to get Dumbledore out from any and/or all his many political positions without success. Dumbledore might have played the "I have no interest in politics" or "I am just a simple Headmaster" cards but the fact that he had so many fingers in the proverbial pies was just proof of his insincerity. Even at the ICW he was known as the Master Manipulator.

The Potters' bodies were not even cold yet when Dumbledore swooped in and took control of their heir and orphan. Naturally he refused to have the Will read as "he had read it and was now Harry Potter's Magical Guardian" and that was that and good enough for most people. His father and others, and not just Death Eaters, had immediately objected but he just ignored their requests and had the Ministry agreeing with him. Even when Child Services wanted to just see Harry Potter for legal reasons, they had been denied.

No, Dumbledore had complete control over Potter and NO ONE was allowed access to him. Lucius had found out from various sources that Potter was being raised by Muggles and was not being educated as he should have been.

Dumbledore was also controlling all of Potter's finances. He couldn't gain access to any of the Potter Family vaults due to the terms of Charlus Potter's unbreakable Will, but he did withdraw funds from the trust vault for Potter's "care" and took complete control over the gifts of money, bequests and sometimes entire estates which were left to Potter. These all went into a "special account" known as the Hogwarts Fund and was controlled by one guess who.

There were times when Draco thought that Dumbledore either had to be on "their side" or had some agenda that no one could figure out but it definitely wasn't for the Greater Good of anyone other than Dumbledore. Draco would be correct as that was the case but most people, especially Dumbledore's followers, didn't realized it.

Granger had to be the best example of a blind follower. Draco never really thought she was really smart as all she did was to memorize her school books and probably only read "Dumbledore approved" books. The homework assignments she handed in were just a repeat of what the textbook said and Snape had told him that all the teachers had called her on this habit yet she still did it anyway.

"The girl has no original ideas of her own and just edits the book," Snape had told him. "She never complains to Dumbledore or McGonagall when you call her a Mudblood but she has whined about being unfairly marked and Dumbledore makes us change her grades citing 'detailed information' as the reason." Snape had been angry but when Dumbledore ordered something….

But to use the old saying she couldn't see the forest through the trees and it was evident to the entire school that she was spying on her only real friend, Potter, on behalf of Dumbledore and getting perks for it.

For some unknown reason Potter was giving her one chance to behave and she had thrown it back in his face. He sighed knowing she was going to "go down" as the Muggles said. He just hoped he would be at the hearing to witness such a satisfying event.

Yes, Draco was going to be dragged before an inquiry board. His father had decided to "cut his losses" and did not answer Draco's frantic letters. Instead this very day the _Prophet's_ society page had announced the engagement of Lucius Malfoy and a French Pureblood witch of very good family. The family was also very, very wealthy and it was hinted that the wedding would be taking place almost immediately as Lucius was in need of an heir.

He was also in desperate need of money as the Dark Lord had come up with a new form of punishment for failures. If you were poor you were cruciated (or worst) but if you were rich you were "fined" and due to all of the recent failures Lucius was paying huge amounts in fines as well as contributing money to the cause via heavy bribing.

Now that Narcissa was of no use to Lucius due to being made a chattel of the new Lord Black, there was need to get himself a rich heir and if Lucius had any fatherly affection for his son it was not being shown.

Draco had already lost all of his status in Slytherin House as well as his allies and "friends" as he had only had them due to his father's influence and power and Snape's protection. The only person who even spoke to him was Blaize Zabini and then only if he had nothing better to do. Pansy had abandoned him so fast his head spun. She went from gushing "arm candy" (well she thought she was arm candy) to totally avoiding him.

The only reason he was still alive and mostly physically unharmed was due to the humiliating fact that "Lord Black" had made it known that an attack on one of his "family" would be considered an attack on him and retaliation would be swift.

Apparently Potter had learned very fast how to wield the power and influence he had been so ignorant of due to Dumbledore's manipulations and political maneuverings and having Longbottom on his side was further helping.

Oh to think that Draco Malfoy had sunk so low in such a short time. He had not as yet been called to answer before "his Lord" but it was coming soon. Draco was also going to be interrogated by the panel and his true fate would be determined then.

 _If he was very lucky_ , he might survive and be allowed to finish his education. Lord Black would be financing it – hopefully. Depending on what questions he was asked (and he had already been told Veritaserum would be used on him) would determine whether he was just a child forced by his Father to act in a certain way or if Draco was the sneaky, whining, cowardly, spoiled little ponce he really was. His answers would have to convince the panel of his innocence or lack thereof and then Lord Black would give his decision concerning Draco's fate.

It all came down to whether Harry Potter was still stupid enough to show Draco mercy despite the horrible way he had treated Potter since he came to Hogwarts. Granted Lucius had ordered Draco to get on Potter's good side and lure him into becoming a vassal of the Malfoys but Draco had failed because he didn't know how to accomplish such a thing.

Draco had been carefully schooled in the ways of Purebloods, told of his family's power, wealth and influence but he had not been taught how to be cunning or the truly subtle art of politics. He was just 11 years old and didn't know better. He took it for granted that as a Malfoy everyone would just see him as THE natural leader and bow to his authority.

It had been impressed upon him that most people were beneath even the notice of a Malfoy and even some Purebloods were to be considered dirt beneath his feet. In the case of the Weasleys, the Goyles and Crabbes that was true. Everyone looked up to and admired the Malfoys even if it was only to fear them.

However no one had explained to Draco just how powerful the Longbottoms really were and since Dumbledore let everyone get away with picking on the last Longbottom and, it was rumored, had started the Squib rumors about the boy, Draco took advantage of the situation and abused the boy.

Draco might have known (if he thought about it) that Potter was his better (even with being a Half-blood) but chose not to think about it. Dumbledore had arranged for Potter to be abused, isolated and oppressed so at Hogwarts it had been open season even on the Boy-Who-Lived. Thus Draco had done all of the things he did and had not been punished.

However, now it was a different story and with his father's public abandonment Draco was truly alone and – tragically – he was now at Potter's mercy. Whether Potter would show him mercy he did not know. Perhaps death would be better than living under an unmerciful – and knowing – Harry Potter.

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 9 – Trials

Snape had all the many potions, some which he had personally invented, finally flushed out of his body. Now he was ready to be interrogated under Veritaserum. He also had to swear on his life and magic to truthfully answer any and all questions asked by Wizengamot. In other words Snape was found to be as guilty as hell.

Before sentence would be passed he had been left in his heavily guarded cell for several days while other Order members, teachers and students were questioned. At this point he was seriously hoping to be given the Kiss or thrown through the Veil as if he ended up in Azkaban, then Voldemort would be able to get him. He wouldn't be rescued, he would be apprehended and tortured horrifically as part of his interrogations had been about the resurrection of the Dark Lord.

He sighed thinking how his life would shortly end. Looking back at his life he had never had a chance in hell due not only to Dumbledore's manipulations but just his life in general. He wished his mother had never married his father as if she had married the wizard chosen by her family, Severus would have been born and raised as a Pureblood or, better yet, never been born.

But she had, he had and now he faced only suffering, humiliation and…well more of the same. He would die, no one would mourn him and if there was a God, it would just be his luck that James Potter was in hell and Severus would be joining him and his eternal torment would be to be pranked, abused and tortured by James Potter. Thus not only was life unfair but so would be death and eternity.

It was found that he had a few spells cast on him by Dumbledore, such as to hate Harry Potter and even, it was discovered to his great surprise, to love and still carry a torch for Lily Evans. That had been the cause of his true destruction as he would do anything to save his once love who he now remembered he had fallen out of love with after she had started dating then marrying Potter.

Snape just hoped that when Dumbledore got to hell, Snape would get to torture him. But probably not with his luck.

Sprout, Flitwick and all of the other teachers had been spelled and/or trapped by Dumbledore into total obedience due to the fact that he was their employer and he could discharge and ruin them in a heartbeat. Sprout and Flitwick still retained their jobs but lost their Head of House status.

The same had been done to Poppy Pomfrey to "overlook" Potter's injuries and to run the Infirmary according to Dumbledore's orders and not by her healer's oath. She had also been set up and then blackmailed and it would only be her word against Dumbledore's and naturally everyone would believe him.

Lots of obliviations were also found on everyone and even the house elves were called in to give testimony concerning the administering of certain potions to the entire student body, tampering with all mail coming and going from Hogwarts and a few other things such as spying.

Minerva McGonagall had suffered the most as like Pomfrey, Dumbledore had "unforgiveable dirt" on her, had made her swear oaths, act as an indifferent Head of House, look the other way regarding outrages and bullying, feel out and then push talented Muggleborns into wanting Gryffindor and so many other things that it all warranted the ultimate punishment. She had also been spelled, constantly obliviated and so down trodden that some strong anti-suicide spells had been cast on her so that she could not end her pathetic life.

Thus she would be joining Snape in Azkaban and both their names would be held up for condemnation by all of Magical Britain.

Although not in her right mind, Molly Weasley was tried and convicted of attempted line-theft, as Ginny was to marry Harry Potter as Dumbledore commanded it. They had to keep the boy ignorant, humble and starting no later than his sixth year, love potions would be administered to him to make sure he "fell in love" with Ginny.

Molly revealed all this information adding that everybody in the family hated and despised Harry Potter and couldn't wait until he married Ginny, she popped out an heir, then he could be disposed of and they would be splitting the Potter fortune with Dumbledore "for the Greater Good" of the Magical World.

Fortunately Arthur Weasley got off as he knew nothing about these plots but he did lose his job at the Ministry. The Twins were put on probation and it would not take much for them to be expelled if they put one toe out of place. They also had to find their own tuition because they were kicked out of the "charity fund" which had paid for their education since 1991 when the Weasleys latched onto Harry Potter or leave school and take their NEWTS on their own.

Only Bill, Charlie and Percy were found "innocent" but Percy also lost his job due to his "cooperation" while he was in school when Potter came as he had participated with his Mother's agenda. Then there was his allegiance with Crouch and now Fudge which finally sealed his fate.

Fudge's career was in ruins since so many people showed pensive memories, swore on their life and magic regarding his illegal doings, such as getting Draco freed concerning Ron's murder, taking bribes and, most notably, denying the truth of Voldemort's resurrection, slandering Potter, Umbridge sending Dementors to kill Potter, etc. He was the first Minister of Magic to be sentenced to Azkaban. He lasted three weeks before he basically died of fright due to Dementor contacts.

Sirius Black was captured about a week after the wards fell. He was lucky that Amelia Bones' "people" found him and he was brought to the Ministry and finally given a trial. He was acquitted and would be paid money to make up for his unlawful incarceration. It seemed everything was going his way and he could become a productive member of society and since Aurors were in great need, he could resume his former career after some new training.

But then because he was Sirius Orion Black, Marauder, Gryffindor and total fool, he just had to go and wreck everything.

The first thing he wanted to do was to meet with his godson. That seemed reasonable so Amelia Bones arranged for a meeting. Much to her surprise Harry didn't want to meet with his godfather and refused to see him due to some irreconcilable differences. Harry had shown her the letter that Sirius had sent but she tried to convince Harry to give Sirius another chance as no doubt "the letter was written in haste and Sirius just wasn't thinking."

Harry still refused. Amelia went back to give Sirius the bad news and told him not to give up but to let things settle down and then try again. But Sirius was having none of it so he used "his great amount of charm" like he normally did with females who were being "difficult" and not giving in to his demands. He spelled her in the back and the next thing anyone knew Amelia was leading Sirius to Harry's private quarters.

Harry was meeting with some solicitors, a few Goblins and other dignitaries and all assembled were taken completely by surprise when Amelia entered the room with Sirius following behind her and before anyone could say or do anything, Sirius yelled out a bunch of obscenities before pointing his wand at Harry and yelling "Avada Kedavra you slimy snake bastard traitor, son of a Mudblood whore."

The spell hit Harry dead on and he fell to the floor. Then all hell broke loose and Amelia and others all jumped on and subdued Sirius Black. Of course by then it was too late to save Harry and, it seemed, Sirius Black. Sirius Black was lying stone cold dead on the floor and no one knew why.

But then Harry Potter "recovered" much like he had the last time the Unforgiveable had been cast on him, he stood up, watched and listened to the goings on and then quietly asked, "Amelia, why did you just bring in Sirius Black when I said I didn't want to see him?"

That was when all hell broke loose and Harry acquired another annoying nickname of The Boy Who Lived Again. After everyone recovered (mostly) from shock, a healer was summoned, diagnostics were cast, Amelia was found to have been spelled by the late Sirius (much to her relief and the saving of her career) and hypotheses were given.

A quick check of the Black Family revealed that no member of the Black Family could harm the Head of House without suffering severe consequences. Thus, any harmful spell cast on the Head of the Black Family by a member of that family would rebound back onto the caster.

It was decided that all the details, not to mention Harry's new resurrection, would not be told to the public and that only that Sirius Black had tried to kill his godson in revenge but had in turn been killed himself would serve to explain the former Auror's death.

Harry wanted it known that Sirius had tried to kill him as he was really, really pissed at this final (and fatal) betrayal and Walburga would be pleased that her wayward son had gotten himself killed. The only people who were informed about the real reason Sirius died were Narcissa, Draco and Andromeda just in case they "got ideas" detrimental to Harry's continued health.

Well at least no one would ever trust any of Harry's former acquaintances, friends of his family, member of the Order of the Phoenix. An investigation was conducted to find out why Sirius had not been checked for curses, hexes and spells, like the big one Dumbledore had placed on Sirius after Dumbledore had been forced to flee.

At last the "final hearing" of the very stubborn Hermione Granger came. Her trial had been downgraded to a hearing once again due solely to her age.

The same was being done for Draco but he was not very hopeful because he knew he had never treated Harry Potter with even the basic common courtesy. That Harry knew nothing about the Magical World only made things worse as Draco had taken advantage of the situation and behaved abominably. He was also not contrite and had Potter never found out about his true station and status in life, things would have just continued on and gotten worse. |

Potter knew it and Draco knew that Potter knew it and Potter knew that Draco knew he knew it. They were a very knowing family. However, after Granger's disastrous third chance of "seeing sense" Draco knew that if Potter forgave her then there was a good chance he might be forgiven.

A year ago Potter might have been forgiving but that was before the Tournament, the news media, the three magical schools' treatment of Harry, the "Dementors incident" and illegal trial before the Ministry and the entire Wizengamot and the treatment of Harry Potter by his "friends," "allies" and "mentor" and everybody in the entire Magical World had changed Potter and he was no longer the betrayed, abused, unknowing, meek pawn which he had been for his entire life.

Granger did get her last chance and was given Veritaserum and asked questions of her real opinion and what she would do once she was "free" from all of this hearing nonsense. So she told the truth as well as exactly what she thought about Harry Potter now!

The verdict would not be heard until after the same thing was done to Draco and Narcissa. Oh well, that was life. Draco's confession as well as Narcissa's left no doubt what they would do to Harry – and to Neville – given any chance. The Veritaserum ruined their chances especially when the two former Malfoys had to swear on their life and magic and confirm their hopes and schemes.

The only comfort which Draco received was seeing the look on Granger's face when the decisions were given. Hermione, Draco and Narcissa would have their wands snapped, their magic bound – in parsel tongue by Harry himself so that only another parsel speaker could reverse it – and be kicked out of the Magical World.

Naturally Hermione complained about the injustice and what Professor Dumbledore would do when he found out and came to rescue her and would have continued for as long as possible until she was silenced by an Auror. She still hadn't learned ANYTHING but at least Draco won a few much needed galleons. Narcissa merely fainted.

Hermione's parents had been present at this last hearing and they had been kept abreast of what was happening in the Magical World and what a fool their daughter was being. It was strongly recommended that they take Hermione and quickly leave the country because Death Eaters were looking for them and would be delighted to kill – horribly – such a dedicated Dumbledore follower.

Harry had made arrangements for them to be assisted with selling their house, their practice and getting put into a type of witness protection program and for that the Doctors Grangers were grateful. Hermione was in a state of shock and would be administered several calming potions.

One of the healers recommended that a partial obliviation be done on the girl "for mercy's sake" explaining the loss of her magic was due to a Pureblood agenda. Harry had considered it for a moment before Hermione started cursing him, his name, his intelligence, his mother's honor, etc. so much that for a moment Draco thought she had copied his usual spiel.

So off the Grangers went to someplace not Britain, two of them happy they would survive and one still denying and plotting what she would do after Dumbledore rescued her as…well he just had to help one of his most faithful of followers.

Finally, due to Gryffindor solidarity, Gryffindor House was banned from participating in the House Cup for the next ten years. This would be done for the three remaining years of what would have been Harry's and Neville's Hogwarts education and another seven years to let sink in what Gryffindor solidarity really meant. Also, there would not be a Gryffindor Quidditch team for that time period either. This had been suggested by Neville as Quidditch, pranks, bullying and unfairness were the only things Gryffindor seem to live and stand for since Dumbledore's rule.

For their treatment of Luna Lovegood and others in their House Ravenclaws were severely punished, mostly with detentions and points taken off for not reporting the dreadful bullying done by certain members of their house. Those who had been the worst offenders against Luna would receive ten points off their final grade for the rest of their time at Hogwarts and it would be made a part of their official record.

Things could have been worst but since most of the students now knew they couldn't get away with things like they had under Dumbledore, hopefully things would get better and the new Headmaster, Deputy and House Heads get begin to correct the damage done and once again Hogwarts could become a first rate school as it had been for centuries.

Change was in the air in many ways and only time would tell the fate of Magical Britain.

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 10 – Aftermath

It would be a long while until Dumbledore was finally caught but eventually he was found and captured while trying to escape the Aurors who now were assigned to protect Hogwarts. He almost escaped trial but Fawkes had not come to his aid when called and the trial took an entire month.

Much to his great amazement and horror, Albus Dumbledore's sins were revealed (well not all but a hell of a lot of them) and he was sentenced to the Veil. Naturally he had demanded to be tried before the ICW but that appeal was refused because he had made too many enemies worldwide due to his sins, agenda and the trouble he had caused. Too many people recognized that he wanted to reveal the Magical World's presence to Muggles for his own fame and legend but that was suicide plain and simple, yet he had every intention of doing it anyway. He was considered too dangerous to live.

Voldemort never revealed his presence he just quietly took over the Ministry and Magical Britain.

"Someone" had established a fund for Muggleborns to escape from Britain along with their families and other countries welcomed these new immigrants and let them learn in their schools. It was a far, far better situation these citizens found themselves in as they received a better education and could find decent jobs and careers in other countries which were denied to them in Magical Britain.

Harry, Neville and Luna had experience too much pain in their short lives and Harry had accidentally found out that he was to have been a martyr as planned by Dumbledore, with Neville as an alternate if Harry died before "his time" or rather before Dumbledore was ready to let him forfeit his life for Magical Britain.

They all went to the United States and although all Potter, Black and Longbottom properties were still owned by Harry and Neville, Potter Place, Longbottom Lodge and Black Castle (the main seat of the Black Family) were placed in permanent stasis for the foreseeable future while the others were rented out or run by reliable managers. Profits had to be made to fund their lives.

After tidying up things in Britain, Harry, Neville, his Gran, Luna and her Father left Britain forever and Frank and Alice Longbottom also left their country. Much to the surprise of all, once Frank and Alice were taken from St. Mungo's and sent to an American Rehabilitation Hospital, their conditions improved. It seems all of these years they had been given the "wrong treatment" for some "unexplained reason."

The portrait of Walburga Black and Kreacher also joined their new family and immigrated. Dobby and Winky and a few of the Longbottom elves went with their families and became the envy of their fellow elves when it was found they had escaped with Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom and the elves' favorite witch Luna Lovegood.

Neville and Luna married and had three sons and two daughters much to the Longbottoms' and Xeno Lovegood's great delight.

Amelia Bones had been persuaded by Harry to immigrate along with them and after he told her about a certain letter he had sent, she readily agreed bringing her niece Susan with her. The same year Neville and Luna married, Harry married Susan Bones and they had four sons and three daughters.

None of the sons were named after James, Sirius and definitely not any of the Dumbledore names. Instead Henry "Hal" Edgar (after Susan's father and uncle), Cedric, Michael and Regulus "Reggie" (at Walburga's request) and their sisters, Harriet, Susanna and Winifred (Winnie) were a combination of their parents' looks either having vibrant green, blue or teal-colored eyes and ebony or red gold hair. They were raised strictly but with lots of love and tender care and like the Longbottom children, made their parents proud.

After nearly being killed by Sirius yet surviving, the Goblins did a little investigating. The prophecy was revealed to Harry and Neville and then Harry had a heritage test done. Apparently his mother had been adopted (due to some manipulations of Dumbledore) and her biological parents were…well let's just say it explained a lot of things including how Harry had survived the night of October 31, 1981.

Between the heritage test and the prophecy, Harry wrote a very nice letter to his Granddaddy – in parsel tongue. He revealed the prophecy's contents and made a deal. He and a few friends would leave England and not return on condition that Granddaddy would leave them alone, not contact them or allow his Death Eaters to harm any of Harry's group. A letter was received agreeing and Harry and entourage happily left the country.

He took Draco and Narcissa with him as they were totally dependent on him and their lives would have been forfeited had they stayed in Britain. Well actually, had Voldemort wanted, as a parsel speaker he could unbind their magic and acquire some very vengeful and dedicated new Death Eaters or would have until he received that letter from Harry.

Besides, Draco having to live as a Muggle would be a bit of sweet justice and although Draco "would rather die than live without his magic and as a Muggle" he really didn't want to. So he was given over to a private tutor and learned "Muggle knowledge" and was eventually sent to a respectable university and obtained a MBA degree in business.

He then was given a new business wardrobe and was obliged to get a job. Just because Harry was feeling generous, he also gave Draco a new car as a graduation present. It was nothing fancy but it was new and the type of car that a responsible businessman would have.

It was also very ironic (okay it wasn't because a mischievous Harry had arranged the whole thing) but Draco ran into Hermione Granger who was just finishing up getting a law degree. They had a lot in common as they hated Harry Potter and could commiserate about the unfairness of their lives thanks to his cruelity, stupidity and not doing what he was supposed to do.

The next thing they knew they were dating. Hermione graduated, found a job through some of Draco's new connections and within a year they got married. Narcissa had a fit but then what could she do as she didn't want to lose her only son.

The "Whites" which was the new surname that Harry had _mercifully_ bestowed on Draco when he went to school eventually had three daughters all of whom had just as much hubris and snobbery as their parents. It was a match made in heaven.

Although Harry, Neville, Luna and Susan kept up their magical studies, they too got a university education. Harry became a forensic archeologist and Susan a physicians' assistant. Neville became a botanist (big surprise) eventually getting a Ph.D. in the Muggle World and two Masteries in the Magical World. Luna got an English degree and became a writer, mostly fiction especially children's fantasy books of exotic and "magical" animals but she also wrote some well received poetry and became a book critic and had a column in a few newspapers and literary magazines.

No one would have ever imagined any of this happening and it would not have if Harry Potter had not been betrayed one time too many. But Karma had caught up with those who had used, abused and intended to harm the innocent boy and for once in Magical Britain the "good" had really defeated evil.

It was nice to know that there was still some justice in the world.


End file.
